THE 

JL  .  1— / 


THE 


KNIGHTS 

ROUND 


I 

i 


BY  THE    SAME   AUTHOR 

Each  i  vol.,  12010,  Illustrated  by  SIDNEY  R. 
BURLEIGH.     Price,  $1.50 

THE  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  ROUND  TABLE 

THE  COURT  OF  KING  ARTHUR 

THE  WAGNER  STORY  BOOK 


THE  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  ROUND  TABLE 


"PERCIVALE   SAW  A   SHIP  COMING   TOWARD  THE   LAND.' 


THE  KNIGHTS  OF 
THE   ROUND  TABLE 

STORIES  OF  KING  ARTHUR 
AND  THE  HOLY  GRAIL 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  SYDNEY  RICHMOND  BURLEIGH 


COPYRIGHT,  1897,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


So 

MY   FATHER 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

ON  GLASTONBURY  TOR, i 

CHAPTER  II 
How  WE  DISCOVERED  CAMELOT, 23 

CHAPTER   III 
THE  BOY  FROM  THE  FOREST 49 

CHAPTER   IV 
THE  QUEEN'S  ROBING-ROOM, 76 

CHAPTER   V 
"  CAMELOT,  THAT  is  IN  ENGLISH  WINCHESTER,"     .       .  102 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  BOAT  ON  THE  RIVER, in 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  GIANTS'  DANCE, 126 

CHAPTER   VIII 
ON  THE  EDGE  OF  LYONNESSE, 145 


x  Contents 

CHAPTER   IX  PAGE 

THE  SIEGE  PERILOUS  ........  J54 

CHAPTER  X 
GAWAIN,      ..........  l69 


CHAPTER   XI 

LANCELOT, 


CHAPTER  XII 
BORS,  ..........        .184 

CHAPTER   XIII 
PERCIVALE,          .        .        •        .        •        •        •        •        •  J93 

CHAPTER   XIV 
GALAHAD,   ..........  JQ8 

CHAPTER   XV 
THE  CITY  OF  SARRAS,        .......  208 

CHAPTER   XVI 
STORIES  OF  STRANGE  STONES,    ......  218 

CHAPTER   XVII 
"  AND  ON  THE  MERE  THE  WAILING  DIED  AWAY,"  .        .  233 

CHAPTER   XVIII 
THE  ABBESS  AND  THE  MONK,    ......  265 

CHAPTER   XIX 

"  REXQUE  FUTURUS,"         .......  277 


LIST  OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"  PERCIVALE  SAW  A  SHIP  COMING  TOWARD  THE  LAND," 

Frontispiece 

GLASTONBURY  TOR, i 

"  AS   HE   PLAYED   A   STORM   BEGAN   TO   RISE,"      .         Facing  l8 

THE  ABBOT'S  KITCHEN, 23 

"  THE  CITY  AND  THE  FORTRESS  OF  THE  RABBITS,"          .  49 

"  KAY'S   HORSE   GALLOPED   BACK   ALONE,".           .         Facing  72 

THE  TOWER  OF  LONDON, 76 

THE  ROUND  TABLE  AT  WINCHESTER,  ....  102 

WINCHESTER  CATHEDRAL, in 

STONEHENGE, 126 

ST.  MICHAEL'S  MOUNT, 145 

THE  LAND'S  END, .  .  154 

"  THE  BRIGHT  SPOT  ON  THE  ROAD  GREW  SMALLER  AND 

SMALLER," Facing  166 

"A  PASTURE  WHERE  A  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  BULLS  WERE 

FEEDING," l6g 

"  THROUGH  WOODS  WHERE  THERE  WERE  SCARCELY  ANY 

PATHS  TO  FOLLOW," 176 

*'  HE  SAW  THE  WATER  BEFORE  HIM  AND  A  SHIP,"         .  184 
xi 


xii  List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

"'KNIGHT,'  SHE  SAID,  'WHAT  ARE  YOU  DOING  HERE?'"  193 

"  '  IT  WAS  KING  EVELAKE'S  SHIELD,'  "  .  .  .  .  198 
"  '  I  CUT  OFF  MY  HAIR  AND  WOVE  IT  INTO  A  GIRDLE,'" 

Facing  204 

THE  DOVE  WITH  THE  GOLDEN  CENSER,  .  .  .  208 

THE  CHEESEWRING, 218 

ST.  JOSEPH'S  CHAPEL,  GI.ASTONIHJRY  ABBEY,  .  .  233 
"  THE  TWO  GREAT  WAVES  BROKE  UPON  EACH  OTHER," 

Facing  256 

THE  CHOIR,  GLASTONBURY  ABBEY,  ....  265 
"  ON  TOWARD  THE  GOLD  AND  THE  PURPLE  IN  THE 

WEST," 277 


SOME   OLDER   STORY-TELLERS 

THERE  is  really  no  need,  perhaps,  for  me  to 
tell  you  that  all  these  stories  have  been  told 
before.  But,  though  you  know  it  already,  I  like 
to  say  it  again,  because  I  can  never  say  often 
enough  how  grateful  I  am  to  those  who  told  the 
world  first  of  Arthur,  of  Guinevere,  of  Lance- 
lot, and  of  Gawain ;  of  Galahad,  of  Percivale, 
and  of  Percivale's  sister ;  of  the  Siege  Perilous 
and  of  the  Holy  Grail.  If  you  do  not  now 
count  Sir  Thomas  Malory  a  dear  friend,  as  I  do, 
learn  to  do  it,  and  you  will  be  the  better  for  it. 
I  do  not  know  who  made  those  wonderful  tales 
the  Mabinogion,  but  I  know  who  gave  them 
to  us  in  our  own  language — Lady  Charlotte 
Guest.  I  wish  that  I  knew  whom  to  thank  for 
"  The  Romance  of  Merlin  "  and  for  the  story  of 
"  Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight."  And  there 
were  many  other  noble  story-tellers  of  the  old 
time  who  passed  away  and  left  us  no  knowledge 
of  themselves  and  not  even  their  names  to  call 


xiv  Some  Older  Story-  Tellers 

them  by.  But  they  left  us  their  stories,  and  if 
anything  from  us  can  reach  them  where  they 
are,  surely  gratitude  can,  and  that  they  must 
have  from  every  one  of  us  who  loves  a  story. 
And  the  great  poet  of  our  own  days,  Lord 
Tennyson,  must  have  it  too,  for  teaching  us 
how  to  read  their  stories. 

Some  time  you  may  read  these  tales  and 
others  as  they  wrote  them,  and  you  cannot  read 
them  without  thinking  what  a  great  and  mar- 
vellous thing  it  was  that  they,  who  lived  no 
longer  than  other  men,  could  give  delight  to 
the  people  of  so  many  centuries.  But  some  of 
these  stories  are  not  easy  to  find,  and  some  are 
not  easy  to  read,  when  you  have  found  them. 
I  have  tried  to  tell  a  few  of  them  again  in  my 
own  way,  hoping  that  thus  some  might  have 
the  stories  and  know  them,  for  whom  the  older 
books  might  be  hard  to  get  or  hard  to  under- 
stand. 


THE  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  ROUND 
TABLE 

CHAPTER   I 

ON   GLASTONBURY   TOR 

IT  was  when  we  were  making  a  journey  in 
the  South  of  England  one  summer  that  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  the  old  tales  of 
King  Arthur  and  of  the  Holy  Grail.  "  We  " 
means  Helen,  Helen's  mother,  and  me.  We 
wandered  about  the  country,  here  and  there 
and  wherever  our  fancy  led  us,  and  every- 
where the  stories  of  King  Arthur  fell  in  our 
way.  In  this  place  he  was  born,  in  that  place 
he  was  crowned  ;  here  he  fought  a  battle,  there 
he  held  a  tournament.  Everything  could  re- 
mind us,  when  we  knew  how  to  be  reminded, 
of  the  stories  of  the  King  and  the  Queen  and 
the  knights  of  the  Round  Table. 


2       The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

It  was  I  who  told  the  stories  and  it  was 
Helen  who  listened  to  them.  Sometimes 
Helen's  mother  listened  to  them  too,  and  some- 
times she  had  other  things  to  do  that  she  cared 
about  more. 

One  day  we  had  been  riding  for  many  hours 
on  the  crooked  railways  of  the  Southwest, 
where  you  change  cars  so  often  that  after  a  lit- 
tle while  you  cannot  remember  at  all  how  many 
trains  you  have  taken.  And  late  in  the  after- 
noon, or  perhaps  early  in  the  evening,  we  saw 
from  the  window  of  the  carriage  a  big  hill,  lift- 
ing itself  high  up  against  the  sky,  with  a  lonely 
tower  on  the  top  of  it.  And  that  was  Glaston- 
bury  Tor. 

There  was  no  time  to  try  to  see  anything  of 
Glastonbury  that  night  after  dinner,  and  we 
were  too  tired.  But  that  big  hill  looked  so  in- 
viting that  we  decided  that  we  would  see  it  the 
next  day  and  climb  up  to  the  top  of  it,  before 
we  did  anything  else.  I  was  a  little  disap- 
pointed with  Glastonbury,  as  we  walked 
through  the  streets  on  our  way  to  the  Tor. 
The  place  looked  much  too  prosperous  to 
please  me,  and  not  at  all  too  neat. 

I  cheered  up  a  little  when  we  came  to  the 
Abbot's  Kitchen.  It  stands  in  the  middle  of  a 
big  field,  with  a  fence  around  it,  and  we  had  to 
borrow  a  key  from  a  woman  who  kept  it  to  lend, 
so  that  we  could  go  in  and  see  it.  We  even 


On   Glastonbury    Tor  3 

spared  a  little  time  from  the  Tor  to  see  it  in. 
The  Abbot's  Kitchen  belonged  to  the  old  ab- 
bey of  Glastonbury.  It  is  a  small,  square  build- 
ing-, with  a  fireplace  in  each  corner.  It  is  still 
in  such  good  repair  that  it  is  hardly  fair  to  call 
it  a  ruin,  but  it  is  a  part  of  old  Glastonbury, 
and  we  carried  back  the  key  feeling  glad  that 
we  had  borrowed  it. 

It  was  a  good,  stiff  climb  up  the  side  of  the 
Tor,  and  we  stopped  more  than  once  to  look 
back  at  the  town  behind  us  and  below  us.  It 
looked  prettier  from  here.  Down  there  in  the 
streets  there  was  the  noise  of  a  busy  modern 
town.  The  ways  were  muddy  and  there  were 
rather  frowsy  women  and  children  about  some 
of  the  doors.  But  up  here  we  were  out  of  sight 
and  hearing  of  all  that.  From  here  the  town 
looked  quiet  and  peaceful  and  beautiful — just 
its  roofs  and  chimneys  and  towers  showing 
through  the  wide,  green  masses  of  the  trees, 
and  the  sound  of  a  church  chime,  that  rang 
every  quarter  of  an  hour,  came  to  us  softened 
and  mellow. 

"  Down  there,"  I  said,  "  we  saw  nothing  but 
Glastonbury — to-day's  Glastonbury — but  here 
we  can  see  Avalon.  That  is  Avalon  down  there 
below  us,  the  Island  of  Apples,  the  happy 
country,  the  place  where  there  was  no  sorrow, 
the  place  where  fairies  lived,  the  place  where 
Joseph  brought  the  Holy  Grail  and  where  he 


4       The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

built  his  church.  A  wonderful  old  place  it  was, 
and  it  was  a  wonderful  abbey  that  grew  up 
where  Joseph  first  made  his  little  chapel.  Our 
old  friend  St.  Dunstan,  who  pinched  the  devil's 
nose,  was  the  abbot  there  once.  So  was  St. 
Patrick.  When  he  came  to  Glastonbury  he 
climbed  up  to  the  top  of  this  hill  where  we  are 
now  and  found,  where  this  old  tower  is,  the 
ruins  of  a  church  of  St.  Michael.  They  used  to 
have  a  way  of  building  churches  to  St.  Michael 
on  the  tops  of  high  hills.  St.  Patrick  rebuilt 
this  one  and  afterwards  it  was  thrown  down 
by  an  earthquake.  I  don't  know  whether 
St.  Patrick  built  this  tower  that  is  here  now 
or  not. 

"Did  I  say  that  fairies  used  to  live  here? 
Another  abbot  of  Glastonbury  found  that  out. 
He  was  St.  Collen,  and  he  must  have  lived 
when  there  was  no  church  of  St.  Michael  here 
on  the  top  of  the  Tor.  St.  Collen  was  one  of 
those  men  who  think  that  they  cannot  serve 
God  and  live  in  comfort  at  the  same  time. 
When  he  had  been  abbot  of  Glastonbury  for  a 
time  he  thought  that  he  was  leading  too  easy  a 
life,  so  he  gave  up  his  post  and  went  about 
preaching.  But  even  that  did  not  please  him, 
so  he  came  back  here  and  made  a  cell  in  the 
rock  on  the  side  of  Glastonbury  Tor,  and  lived 
in  it  as  a  hermit. 

"  One  day  he  heard  two  men  outside  his  cell 


On   Glastonbury    Tor  5 

talking  about  Gwyn,  the  son  of  Nudd.  And 
one  of  them  said  :  '  Gwyn,  the  son  of  Nudd,  is 
the  King  of  the  Fairies.' 

"  Then  Collen  put  his  head  out  of  the  door 
of  his  cell  and  said  to  the  two  men  :  '  Do  not 
talk  of  such  wicked  things.  There  are  no  fair- 
ies, or  if  there  are  they  are  devils.  And  there 
is  no  Gwyn,  the  son  of  Nudd.  Hold  your 
tongues  about  him.' 

"'  Hold  your  own  tongue  about  him,'  one  of 
the  men  answered,  '  or  you  will  hear  from  him 
in  some  unpleasant  way.' 

"  The  men  went  away,  and  by  and  by  Collen 
heard  a  knock  at  his  door,  and  a  voice  asked  if 
he  were  in  his  cell.  '  I  am  here,'  he  answered  ; 
'  who  is  it  that  asks  ?  ' 

"  '  I  am  a  messenger  from  Gwyn,  the  son  of 
Nudd,  the  King  of  the  Fairies,'  the  voice  said, 
'  and  he  has  sent  me  to  command  you  to  come 
and  speak  with  him  on  the  top  of  the  hill  at 
noon.' 

"  Collen  did  not  think  that  he  ought  to  mind 
what  the  King  of  the  Fairies  said  to  him,  if 
there  really  were  any  King  of  the  Fairies,  so 
he  stayed  in  his  cell  all  day.  The  next  day  the 
messenger  came  again  and  said  just  what  he 
had  said  before,  and  again  St.  Collen  stayed  in 
his  cell  all  day.  But  the  third  day  the  messen- 
ger came  again  and  said  to  Collen  that  he  must 
come  and  speak  with  Gwyn,  the  son  of  Nudd, 


6       The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  King  of  the  Fairies,  on  the  top  of  the  hill, 
at  noon,  or  it  would  be  the  worse  for  him. 

"  Then  Collen  took  a  flask  and  filled  it  with 
holy  water  and  fastened  it  at  his  waist,  and  at 
noon  he  went  up  the  hill.  For  a  long  time  Col- 
len had  been  abbot  of  Glastonbury  and  for  a 
long  time  he  had  been  a  hermit  and  lived  in  his 
cell  on  the  side  of  this  very  hill,  but  never  be- 
fore had  he  seen  the  great  castle  that  stood  that 
day  on  the  top  of  Glastonbury  Tor.  It  did  not 
look  heavy,  as  if  it  were  built  for  war,  but  it 
was  wonderfully  high  and  graceful  and  beauti- 
ful. It  had  tall  towers,  with  banners  of  every 
color  hung  from  the  tops  of  them  and  lower 
down,  and  there  were  battlements  where  ladies 
and  squires  in  rich  dresses  stood  and  looked 
down  at  other  ladies  and  squires  below.  And 
those  below  were  dancing  and  jousting  and 
playing  games,  and  all  around  there  were  sol- 
diers, handsomely  dressed  too,  guarding  the 
place. 

"  When  Collen  came  near,  a  dozen  of  the 
people  met  him  and  said  to  him  :  '  You  must 
come  with  us  to  our  King,  Gwyn,  the  son  of 
Nudd — he  is  waiting  for  you.' 

"  And  they  led  him  into  the  castle  and  into 
the  great  hall.  In  the  middle  of  the  hall  was  a 
table,  spread  with  more  delicious  things  to  eat 
than  poor  St.  Collen,  who  thought  that  it  was 
wicked  to  eat  good  things,  had  ever  dreamed 


On   Glastonbury   Tor  7 

of.  And  at  the  head  of  the  table,  on  a  gold 
chair,  sat  a  man  who  wore  a  crown.  '  Coilen,' 
he  said,  '  I  am  the  King  of  the  Fairies,  Gwyn, 
the  son  of  Nudd.  Do  you  believe  in  me  now? 
Sit  down  and  eat  with  me,  and  let  us  talk  to- 
gether. You  are  a  learned  man,  but  you  did 
not  believe  in  me.  Perhaps  I  can  tell  you  of 
other  things  that  so  wise  a  man  as  you  ought 
to  know.' 

"  But  St.  Coilen  only  took  the  flask  of  holy 
water  from  his  side  and  threw  some  of  it  upon 
Gwyn,  the  son  of  Nudd,  and  sprinkled  some  of 
it  around,  and  in  an  instant  there  was  no  king 
there  and  there  was  no  table.  The  hall  was 
gone,  and  the  castle.  The  dances  and  the  games 
were  done,  and  the  squires  and  the  ladies  and 
the  soldiers  all  had  vanished.  The  whole  of  the 
fairy  palace  was  gone,  and  Coilen  was  left 
standing  alone  on  the  top  of  Glastonbury  Tor. 

"  But  Glastonbury  has  forgotten  St.  Coilen, 
I  suppose.  The  old  town  is  prouder  now  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathaea  than  of  anybody  else — 
prouder  than  it  is  of  King  Arthur,  I  think, 
though  King  Arthur — but  I  won't  tell  you 
about  that  now.  You  know  how  Joseph  of 
Arimathsea  buried  the  Christ  in  his  tomb  after 
He  was  taken  down  from  the  cross.  After  He 
had  risen  again  tfye  Jews  put  Joseph  in  prison, 
because  they  said  that  he  had  stolen  the  body. 
But  Joseph  had  with  him  the  Holy  Grail,  the 


8       The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

cup  in  which  he  had  caught  the  blood  of  the 
Saviour,  when  He  was  on  the  cross.  It  was  the 
same  cup,  too,  from  which  the  Saviour  had 
drunk  at  the  Last  Supper.  It  was  a  wonderful 
thing,  that  cup,  and  there  are  whole  volumes  of 
stories  about  it.  The  blood  that  Joseph  had 
caught  in  it  always  stayed  in  it  afterwards, 
and  the  cup  and  the  blood  seemed  to  have  a 
strange  sort  of  life  and  knowledge  and  the 
power  of  choosing.  One  of  the  wonderful 
things  about  the  Holy  Grail  was  that  it  could 
always  give  food  to  any  one  whom  it  chose, 
and  those  who  were  fed  by  the  Holy  Grail 
wanted  no  other  food  than  what  it  gave  them. 
And  so  Joseph  wanted  nothing  while  he  was  in 
prison. 

"  At  last  the  Emperor  had  Joseph  let  out  of 
his  prison.  And  some  one  asked  him  how  long 
it  had  been  since  he  was  put  there,  and  he  an- 
swered :  '  I  have  been  here  in  this  prison  for 
nearly  three  days.' 

"  Then  they  all  stared  at  one  another  and 
whispered  and  looked  at  Joseph,  and  then  they 
whispered  together  again.  '  Why  do  you  look 
at  one  another  and  at  me  so,'  said  Joseph,  '  is  it 
not  three  days,  almost,  since  they  put  me 
here  ? ' 

"  '  It  is  wonderful/  said  one  of  them  ;  'Joseph, 
you  have  been  in  this  prison  for  forty-two 
years.' 


On   Glastonbury   Tor  9 

"  '  Can  it  be  ? '  said  Joseph  ;  '  it  seems  to  me 
like  only  three  days,  and  barely  that,  and  I  have 
never  been  so  happy  in  my  life  as  I  have  been 
for  these  three  days — or  these — can  it  be — forty- 
two  years?' 

"  And  this  was  because  he  had  had  the  Holy 
Grail  in  the  prison  with  him.  Afterwards  he 
came  to  England.  He  brought  the  Holy  Grail 
here  to  Avalon,  and  the  King  of  that  time  gave 
him  some  ground  to  build  his  church  on.  They 
say  it  was  really  the  island  of  Avalon  then,  for  it 
was  all  surrounded  by  marsh  and  water,  and 
there  was  an  opening,  a  waterway,  out  to  the 
Bristol  Channel.  And  since  it  ceased  to  be  an 
island  the  sea  has  twice  at  least  broken  through 
and  made  it  one  again  for  a  little  while.  But 
the  last  time  was  almost  two  hundred  years 
ago. 

"  Well,  when  Joseph  and  those  who  were 
with  him  first  came  here,  they  rested  on  the 
hillside  and  Joseph  stuck  the  staff  that  he  car- 
ried into  the  ground.  It  was  not  this  hill  where 
we  are,  but  another,  Wearyall  Hill.  And  Jo- 
seph's staff,  where  he  had  set  it  in  the  ground, 
began  to  bud,  and  then  leaves  and  branches 
grew  on  it.  It  struck  roots  into  the  ground  and 
became  a  tree.  It  was  a  thorn-tree,  the  Holy 
Thorn  they  called  it,  and  always  after  that  it 
blossomed  twice  a  year,  once  in  the  time  of 
other  thorn-trees  and  again  at  Christmas.  The 


io     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

tree  was  gone,  of  course,  long  ago,  but  other 
trees  had  grown  from  slips  of  it,  and  they  say 
that  descendants  of  it  are  still  growing  in  Glas- 
tonbury  gardens  and  that  they  still  bloom  at 
Christmas.  I  am  sorry  that  we  cannot  stay 
here  till  Christmas  to  see  if  it  is  true. 

"  So,  in  the  place  that  the  King  gave  him,  Jo- 
seph built  his  chapel  of  wood  and  woven  twigs, 
and  it  was  the  first  Christian  church  in  Eng- 
land. Some  of  the  stories  say  that  the  Holy 
Grail,  that  Joseph  brought  here  with  him,  was 
buried  at  last  under  one  of  these  Glastonbury 
hills,  but  that  is  not  the  story  that  I  like  the 
best.  One  story  says  that  it  was  not  a  cup  at 
all  that  Joseph  brought  to  Avalon,  but  two  cru- 
ets. It  says  besides  that  these  two  cruets  were 
buried  with  Joseph  when  he  died,  and  that  when 
his  grave  is  found,  and  the  two  cruets  in  it, 
there  will  never  again  be  any  drought  in  Eng- 
land. But  according  to  the  story  that  I  like 
best,  Joseph  did  not  die  at  all,  as  other  men 
die,  but  was  long  kept  alive  by  the  Holy  Grail, 
waiting  for  the  best  knight  of  the  world,  for  it 
was  foretold  that  he  should  never  die  till  the 
best  knight  of  the  world  should  come. 

"  Since  it  was  here  that  the  Grail  was 
brought,  I  think  it  must  have  been  not  far  from 
here  that  King  Pelles  lived,  before  Balin  gave 
him  the  wound  that  was  never  to  heal  till  the 
best  of  all  knights  should  come.  And  I  fancy 


On  Glastonbury    Tor  n 

it  was  somewhere  near  here,  too,  that  he  lived 
after  that.  He  was  the  keeper  of  the  Grail,  and 
he  had  a  castle  called  Carbonek.  When  we  talk 
of  the  Grail  it  seems  to  me  that  everything  be- 
comes mysterious  and  uncertain,  so  that  it  is 
hard  to  tell  where  this  Castle  of  Carbonek  was. 
At  one  time  it  seems  to  have  been  on  the  sea- 
shore and  at  another  time  it  seems  to  have  been 
inland.  But  for  that  very  reason  I  think  that 
Avalon  is  as  likely  a  place  for  it  as  any,  for  this 
place  was  inland,  just  as  it  is  now,  but  then  the 
waters  of  the  sea  came  in  around  it.  Yet  the 
land  around  King  Pelles's  old  castle  was  all  laid 
waste,  and  I  have  never  heard  that  the  land 
around  Avalon  was  so.  But  you  see  that  it  is 
all  uncertain  and  strange,  and  we  cannot  be  sure 
of  anything  about  it. 

"  I  think  I  have  told  you  the  story  about 
King  Pelles  and  Balin  before,  but  I  will  tell  you 
a  little  of  it  again,  because  it  fits  in  so  well 
just  here.  King  Pelles  was  descended  from  Jo- 
seph of  Arimathsea,  and,  as  I  said,  he  was  the 
keeper  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Once  Balin  came  to 
his  castle,  seeking  for  Garlon,  a  knight  who  had 
the  power  of  riding  invisible  and  who  killed 
other  knights,  when  they  could  not  see  him. 
Balin  found  him  there  and  killed  him,  and  King 
Pelles  tried  to  avenge  his  death,  because  he  was 
his  brother. 

"  Balin  had   broken   his   sword   and  he  fled 


12     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

from  King  Pelles  and  ran  through  the  castle  till 
he  came  to  a  chamber  where  Joseph  of  Arima- 
thaea,  who  was  kept  alive  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Grail,  was  lying  in  a  bed.  And  beside  him 
was  a  spear,  with  drops  of  blood  flowing  from 
the  point.  It  was  the  spear  with  which  the  Ro- 
man soldier  wounded  the  side  of  the  Christ 
when  He  was  on  the  cross.  Balin  seized  it  and 
turned  upon  King  Pelles  and  wounded  him  with 
it  in  the  side. 

"  Then  the  whole  castle  fell  down  around 
them  and  all  the  country  about  it  became  waste 
and  dry  and  desolate.  Balin  lay  under  the  ruins 
for  three  days,  and  then  Merlin,  the  great  magi- 
cian of  King  Arthur's  court,  came  and  woke 
him  and  gave  him  a  horse  and  a  sword  and  sent 
him  on  his  way.  Afterwards  Balin  met  his 
brother  Balan,  and  they  fought,  neither  of  them 
knowing  who  the  other  was,  till  they  killed 
each  other.  Then  Merlin  took  the  sword  with 
which  Balin  had  killed  his  brother  and  drove 
it  into  a  great  stone,  up  to  the  hilt,  and  set  the 
stone  floating  on  the  river.  And  he  wrote  on 
the  stone  that  no  knight  should  ever  draw  this 
sword  out  of  the  stone  except  the  one  to  whom 
it  should  belong,  the  best  knight  of  the  world. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  how  King  Pelles  got  out 
of  the  ruins  of  his  castle,  but  afterwards  he  had 
another  castle,  the  one  that  was  called  Carbonek. 
He  was  still  the  keeper  of  the  Grail.  And  it 


On   Glastonbury    Tor  13 

was  foretold  that  the  wound  in  the  side  that 
Balin  had  given  to  him  with  the  spear  would 
never  be  healed  till  the  best  knight  of  all  the 
world  should  come.  So  for  many  years  King 
Pelles  lived  in  his  castle  and  bore  the  pain  of  a 
wound  that  always  seemed  new  and  fresh,  and 
waited  for  the  coming  of  the  best  knight  of  the 
world. 

"  This  is  getting  to  be  a  rather  rambling  sort 
of  story,  and  while  we  are  rambling  perhaps  I 
may  as  well  tell  you  about  the  adventure  that  Sir 
Bors  had  at  the  Castle  of  Carbonek.  Bors  was 
a  knight  of  the  Round  Table.  He  was  one  of 
the  best  of  all  of  them.  He  sat  at  the  table  in 
the  next  seat  but  one  to  the  Siege  Perilous. 
The  Siege  Perilous  was  the  seat  on  the  right  of 
the  King's.  Merlin  had  made  it  when  he  made 
the  Round  Table,  and  he  said  that  no  one  should 
ever  sit  in  it  without  coming  to  harm,  except  the 
best  knight  of  all  the  world.  So  for  many  years 
no  one  had  sat  in  that  seat.  And  no  one  sat 
in  the  one  next  to  it  either,  but  Bors  sat  in 
the  one  next  to  that.  Next  to  him  sat  his  cousin 
Lancelot.  They  were  the  sons  of  two  kings  who 
were  brothers,  Ban  and  Bors,  who  had  helped 
King  Arthur,  when  he  first  came  to  his  throne. 

"  Lancelot  was  counted  as  the  best  of  all  King 
Arthur's  knights.  He  was  the  strongest  and 
the  bravest  of  them  all,  people  said,  and  the  best 
fighter,  and  the  King  and  the  Queen  loved  him 


14     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

more  than  any  of  the  others.  Nobody  could  see 
why  he  should  not  sit  in  the  Siege  Perilous,  but 
whenever  a  knight  came  to  the  Round  Table 
his  name  appeared  of  itself,  in  gold  letters,  in 
the  seat  that  he  was  to  have,  and  nobody  could 
sit  in  the  Siege  Perilous  till  his  name  came  in  it. 

"  But  I  set  out  to  tell  you  about  Sir  Bors. 
Once  Bors  came  to  the  Castle  of  Carbonek.  A 
wandering  knight,  in  those  days,  was  always 
welcome  in  every  castle,  and  so  King  Pelles  wel- 
comed Bors.  The  King  was  brought  into  the 
hall  and  Bors  was  placed  at  the  table  between 
him  and  his  daughter.  And  there  in  the  hall, 
too,  Bors  saw  a  beautiful  child,  a  boy,  with  deep 
eyes  and  a  bright,  sweet  face  and  golden  hair. 
He  was  the  son  of  King  Pelies's  daughter,  and 
I  will  tell  you  more  about  him  another  time. 

"  It  was  a  strange  way  of  entertaining  guests 
that  they  had  here,  Bors  thought,  for,  though 
they  were  sitting  at  the  table,  there  was  nothing 
to  eat  on  it.  Just  as  Bors  noticed  this  he  saw  a 
white  dove  fly  into  the  room.  It  carried  a  little 
golden  censer,  by  a  chain  which  it  held  in  its 
beak.  The  thin  smoke  from  the  censer  spread 
through  the  hall  and  filled  it  with  a  strange, 
sweet  odor.  And  while  the  dove  flew  about  the 
hall  a  girl  came  in,  carrying  something  covered 
with  white  silk,  which  she  held  high  up  in  her 
hands.  Bors  could  not  see  what  it  was  that  she 
carried,  but  all  who  were  in  the  hall  knelt  down 


On   Glastonbury   Tor  15 

and  looked  up  toward  it,  and  Bors  did  the  same. 
But  though  the  covering  of  silk  hid  the  thing  it- 
self which  was  under  it,  there  was  something 
about  it  that  it  could  not  hide.  For  the  white 
silk  was  all  glowing  with  a  rosy  light  that  came 
from  within  it,  and  it  shone  through  it  and  shed 
a  rosy  brightness  all  through  the  hall.  The  dove 
flew  out  of  the  room  again  and  the  girl  went 
away  too.  And  this  was  the  Holy  Grail  that 
had  passed,  and  Bors  had  not  seen  it. 

"  But  when  it  was  gone  and  Bors  looked  at 
the  table  again  it  was  covered  with  food,  finer 
and  more  delicious  than  Bors  had  ever  tasted  or 
seen  before.  '  There  are  strange  things  to  see 
in  your  castle,  King  Pelles,'  said  Bors. 

" '  There  are  stranger  things  than  you  have 
seen  yet,'  King  Pelles  answered.  '  It  is  a  place 
of  wonders  and  of  danger  for  knights,  and  few  of 
them  leave  here  without  coming  to  harm.  Only 
for  the  best  of  them  is  it  safe  to  stay  all  night  in 
my  castle.  You,  Sir  Knight,  may  stay  if  you 
will,  but  it  will  be  better  for  you  to  go,  and 
so  I  warn  you.' 

"'It  is  not  for  me  to  say,'  Bors  answered, 
'that  I  am  better  than  other  knights,  and  indeed 
I  know  some  who  are  better  than  I.  But  I  am 
not  afraid  to  be  in  your  castle  for  a  night,  and 
here  I  will  stay.' 

"'Do  as  you  please,'  said  the  King,  'but  I 
have  warned  you.' 


1 6     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  So,  when  it  was  time  to  go  to  bed,  Bors  was 
led  to  a  chamber  and  left  alone  in  it.  Nothing 
that  the  King  had  said  had  made  him  afraid,  but 
he  thought  that  it  would  be  better  not  to  take 
off  his  armor.  And  as  soon  as  he  had  lain  down 
in  his  armor  a  great  beam  of  light  shone  upon 
him.  He  could  not  tell  where  it  came  from,  but 
suddenly,  along  in  the  beam  of  light,  came  a 
spear,  with  no  hand  to  hold  it,  and  a  little  stream 
of  blood  flowed  from  the  point  of  the  spear. 
And  before  Bors  could  move  the  spear  came 
upon  him  and  went  through  his  armor  as  if  it 
had  been  a  cobweb  and  made  a  deep  wound  in 
his  side.  The  spear  was  drawn  away  again,  but 
with  the  pain  Bors  fell  back  upon  his  pillow 
and  did  not  see  where  it  went. 

"  Then  there  came  a  knight,  all  armed,  with 
his  sword  drawn,  and  the  knight  said  :  '  Sir 
Bors,  arise  and  fight  with  me.' 

"  Bors  was  almost  fainting,  because  of  the 
wound  in  his  side,  but  he  arose  and  tried  to  fight. 
And  when  he  tried  he  found  that  he  could  fight 
better  than  he  thought.  He  fought  the  other 
knight  till  he  gave  ground  before  him,  little  by 
little,  and  at  last  Bors  forced  him  out  of  the 
chamber.  Then  Bors  lay  down  again  to  rest, 
and  all  at  once  the  room  was  full  of  falling  ar- 
rows. He  could  not  see  where  they  came  from, 
any  more  than  he  could  see  where  anything  else 
came  from,  but  they  fell  all  around  him  and 


On   Glastonbury    Tor  17 

upon  him.  They  pierced  his  armor,  just  as  the 
spear  had  done,  as  if  there  had  been  no  armor, 
and  they  wounded  him  in  many  places.  And 
these  wounds  and  the  wound  that  the  spear  had 
made  burned  and  smarted  more  than  before, 
and  Bors  felt  weaker  and  fainter. 

"  Then  a  lion  came  into  the  chamber  and 
sprang  upon  Bors  and  tore  off  his  shield.  But 
again  Bors  found  that  he  could  fight  if  he  tried, 
and  he  struck  the  lion's  head  with  his  sword 
and  killed  it. 

"  And  next  there  came  an  old  man,  who  had 
a  harp.  He  sat  down  and  began  to  play  on  the 
harp  and  to  sing,  and  as  he  played  a  storm  be- 
gan to  rise  outside  the  castle.  At  first  it  was 
only  a  rising  of  the  wind  that  Bors  heard,  but  it 
grew  and  grew,  till  it  swept  through  the  halls 
and  the  corridors  of  the  castle  and  through  the 
room  where  Bors  lay.  It  caught  at  the  cur- 
tains and  the  tapestries  of  the  chamber  and  al- 
most tore  them  from  their  places,  and  it  shook 
the  arms  that  hung  on  the  walls,  till  they  rattled 
together  with  a  dull,  ghostly  clatter.  Bors 
could  hear  the  wind,  too,  rushing  and  roaring 
and  screaming  up  over  the  towers.  And  then 
the  rain  came,  and  the  thunder,  with  noises  of 
splitting  and  crashing  as  if  the  hills  around  were 
breaking  and  rolling  down  into  the  valleys,  and 
the  very  walls  shuddered  and  trembled,  and  the 
lightning  was  so  fierce  that  it  seemed  to  shine 


1 8     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

through  the  walls,  as  if  they  had  been  made  of 
glass. 

"  But  all  through  the  dreadful  noise  of  the 
storm  Bors  could  hear  the  soft  voice  of  the  old 
man  who  sang,  as  if  there  had  been  no  other 
sound.  He  sang  a  song  of  how  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathasa  had  come  to  England  and  had  brought 
the  Holy  Grail.  When  he  had  finished  it  he 
spoke  to  Bors,  and,  as  he  talked  and  as  Bors  an- 
swered him,  the  storm  grew  louder  and  more 
terrible.  '  Bors,'  said  the  old  man,  '  leave  this 
place.  You  have  done  nobly  here.  There  are 
few  knights  in  the  world  who  could  bear  all  that 
you  have  borne  to-night.  Tell  your  cousin 
Lancelot  all  that  you  have  seen,  and  tell  him 
that  it  is  he  who  should  be  here  and  should  see 
these  things  and  more,  but  that  he  is  not  so 
good  a  knight  as  to  be  allowed  to  see  what  you 
have  seen.  These  things  are  only  for  the  best 
of  knights.' 

" '  It  is  well  for  you,'  said  Bors, '  that  you  are 
old.  I  am  weary  with  fighting  and  I  am  faint 
and  dizzy  with  many  wounds,  but  in  spite  of 
all,  if  you  were  not  old  and  weak,  I  would  not 
hear  you  say  such  things  of  my  cousin  Sir 
Lancelot.  Sir  Lancelot  is  the  best  knight  that 
lives,  and  what  any  good  knight  can  do  or  see 
Lancelot  can  do  or  see.' 

"  '  Bors,  Bors,'  said  the  old  man  again,  '  do 
not  think  that  you  can  frighten  me  with  loud 


On   Glastonbury   Tor  19 

talk.  In  the  strength  of  his  arm  and  the  sure- 
ness  of  his  spear  and  the  power  of  his  sword, 
Lancelot  is  the  best  knight  that  lives,  but,  for 
all  that,  he  is  not  so  good  a  knight  as  you,  Sir 
Bors.  Bors,  what  did  you,  and  what  did  Lance- 
lot swear  when  King  Arthur  made  you  knights 
of  his  Round  Table  ?  ' 

"  '  We  swore,'  said  Bors, '  that  we  would  help 
the  King  to  guard  his  people,  that  we  would 
do  right  and  justice,  that  in  all  things  we  would 
be  true  and  loyal  to  God  and  to  the  King.' 

"  '  Yes,  Bors,'  said  the  old  man,  '  that  was 
what  you  swore,  and  have  you  kept  your  oath, 
both  by  your  deeds  and  in  your  heart  ? ' 

"  '  As  far  as  God  has  given  me  power,'  Bors 
answered,  '  I  have  kept  it.' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  the  old  man,  '  you  have  kept  it 
well.  But  how  has  Lancelot  kept  it  ? ' 

" '  Old  man,'  said  Bors,  '  do  you  dare  to  say 
to  me,  Lancelot's  cousin  and  his  friend,  that 
he  has  not  kept  his  oath  ? ' 

" '  Bors,  Bors,'  said  the  old  man  again,  '  do 
not  try  to  frighten  me.  I  dare  to  tell  you  any- 
thing that  it  is  good  for  you  to  know.  In  all 
his  deeds  Lancelot  has  kept  his  oath,  but  how 
has  he  kept  it  in  his  heart?  Go  and  ask  him. 
Ask  him  if  in  his  heart  he  has  always  been  true 
and  loyal  to  the  King.  Ask  him  if  he  has  nev- 
er grown  proud  of  his  strength.  Ask  him  if 
he  has  not  sometimes  done  his  deeds  for  the 


2O     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

Queen's  praise,  and  not  for  the  King's  love  and 
the  King's  glory.  Ask  him  if  he  has  never 
wished  that  he  himself  were  such  a  king,  with 
such  a  queen.  Ask  him  if  that  wish  was  all  true 
and  loyal  to  the  King.  Bors,  Bors,  out  there  in 
the  world,  where  you  and  Lancelot  live,  the 
strongest  knight  is  the  best,  and  Lancelot  is 
the  best  knight — out  there  in  the  world.  But 
this  is  the  castle  of  the  Holy  Grail,  and  the 
Holy  Grail  searches  the  hearts  of  men.  Here, 
in  this  chamber,  Sir  Bors,  Lancelot  could  not 
stay  as  you  have  stayed  and  see  what  you  have 
seen  and  bear  what  you  have  borne.' 

"  As  the  old  man  ceased  to  speak  it  seemed 
to  Bors  that  the  burning  of  his  wounds  grew 
less.  While  he  was  thinking  of  this  and  of  what 
the  old  man  had  said,  the  old  man  was  gone,  he 
could  not  tell  where.  Then,  he  could  not  tell 
from  where,  the  white  dove  flew  into  the  room. 
It  was  the  same  dove  that  he  had  seen  in  the 
hall,  and  it  held  the  same  little  gold  censer  in 
its  beak,  and  again  there  was  the  sweet  odor 
through  the  room.  And  when  the  dove  came 
the  storm  was  ended.  There  was  no  more 
blinding  lightning  and  the  thunder  sounded 
only  a  little  and  far  off.  The  rain  ceased  and 
all  the  wind  died  down. 

"  Then  Bors  saw  four  children  pass  through 
the  room,  carrying  four  lighted  tapers.  With 
the  four  children  was  a  figure  like  an  old  man. 


On   Glastonbury    Tor  21 

It  wore  a  long-,  white  robe,  and  a  hood  hung 
low  down  over  the  face,  so  that  all  that  Bors 
could  see  of  it  was  the  end  of  a  white  beard. 
In  the  right  hand  was  that  spear,  with  the  little 
stream  of  blood  flowing  from  the  point.  There 
was  no  one  to  tell  Bors  who  this  was,  but  some- 
how he  seemed  to  know  that  it  was  Joseph  of 
Arimathsea. 

"  They  passed  through  the  room,  but  still 
Bors  could  see  them  in  the  next  chamber.  The 
children  knelt  around  the  old  man  and  he  held 
high  up  in  his  hands  that  wonderful  thing  with 
the  covering  of  white  silk.  Again  the  soft, 
rosy  brightness  glowed  through  the  silk,  and 
Bors  did  not  know  why  it  was  that  when  he 
saw  it  he  felt  so  peaceful  and  glad.  Then  he 
heard  a  loud  voice  that  said  :  '  Sir  Bors,  leave 
this  place  ;  it  is  not  yet  time  for  you  to  be 
here.' 

"  Then  all  at  once  the  door  was  shut  and 
Bors  could  not  see  the  children  or  the  old  man 
or  what  he  carried.  The  strange,  bright  light 
that  had  shone  upon  him  all  this  time  was  gone. 
Outside  the  storm  and  the  clouds  were  past, 
and  a  clear  ray  of  moonlight  shone  through  the 
chamber.  All  the  pain  of  his  wounds  was  gone 
and  he  sank  back  upon  his  pillow  and  slept. 

"  When  he  awoke  in  the  morning  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  had  never  felt  so  strong  and 
fresh.  The  wounds  that  he  had  had  from  the 


22     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

spear  and  the  arrows  had  left  no  scar.  And 
when  King  Pelles  saw  him  he  said  :  '  Sir  Bors, 
you  have  done  here  what  few  living  knights 
could  do,  and  I  know  that  you  will  prove  one 
of  the  best  knights  of  the  world.' 

"  Then  Bors  remembered  that  the  voice  had 
told  him  that  it  was  not  time  yet  for  him  to  be 
in  this  place,  so  he  took  his  horse  and  rode 
away  toward  Camelot,  to  find  Lancelot  and  to 
tell  him  what  he  had  seen." 


CHAPTER   II 

HOW   WE   DISCOVERED   CAMELOT 

ONE  of  the  strangest  things  about  this  kind  of 
travel  is  to  find  how  much  more  you  know  about 
the  country  than  the  people  do  who  live  in  it. 
Before  we  came  to  England  at  all  I  had  read  in 
certain  books  that  the  real  Camelot  was  in  the 
county  of  Somerset.  It  was  at  Camelot  that 
King  Arthur  lived  more  than  anywhere  else 
and  where  he  had  his  finest  castle.  So  of 
course  we  were  anxious  to  see  Camelot.  Our 
trouble  did  not  seem  to  be  that  we  could  not 
find  it ;  it  was  that  we  found  it  in  too  many 
places.  We  had  been  to  Camelford,  a  poor  lit- 
tle village  in  Cornwall,  earlier  in  our  journey, 
and  they  had  told  us  that  that  was  Camelot.  We 
did  not  really  believe  it,  but  neither  did  I  feel 
quite  sure  that  my  books  were  right  about  the 
place  in  Somerset.  We  thought  that  it  would 
be  best  to  see  all  the  Camelots,  so  that  we  could 
make  up  our  minds  which  one  we  ought  to  be- 

23 


24     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

lieve  in,  or  whether  we  ought  to  believe  in  any 
of  them  at  all. 

I  had  studied  the  books  and  I  had  studied  the 
maps,  till  I  almost  felt  that  I  could  go  straight 
to  this  Camelot,  without  any  help.  It  was  still 
called  Camelot,  it  seemed,  and  it  was  a  fortified 
hill,  near  a  place  called  Queen  Camel,  some 
dozen  miles  to  the  south  of  Glastonbury. 

It  was  lucky  that  I  knew  all  this,  because 
when  we  asked  the  people  of  the  hotel  in  Glas- 
tonbury if  they  could  give  us  a  carriage  and  a 
driver  to  take  us  to  Camelot  they  said  that  they 
had  never  heard  of  any  such  place.  They  had 
heard  of  Queen  Camel.  They  did  not  know 
just  where  even  that  was,  but  they  thought 
that  it  might  be  found.  I  felt  so  sure  that  the 
books  and  the  maps  and  I  were  right  about  it 
that  I  told  them  that  we  would  take  the  car- 
riage and  go  to  Queen  Camel,  and  then  we 
would  see  if  we  could  find  Camelot.  No  doubt 
they  thought  that  we  were  insane,  but  that 
made  no  difference  to  us,  and  as  long  as  we 
paid  for  the  carriage  it  made  no  difference  to 
them. 

Helen's  mother  is  one  of  those  dreadfully 
sensible  people  who  always  want  you  to  take 
umbrellas  and  things  with  you.  She  was  not 
going  with  us  to  discover  Camelot,  but  she  said 
that  we  must  take  umbrellas  and  mackintoshes 
with  us,  because  it  was  going  to  rain.  It  is  al- 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        25 

ways  hard  to  argue  with  these  people,  because 
they  are  so  often  right.  This  time  we  really 
had  no  excuse  for  not  taking  them,  for  they 
would  simply  be  put  in  the  bottom  of  the  car- 
riage and  they  would  be  no  trouble.  So  we 
took  them,  and  we  were  scarcely  outside  Glas- 
tonbury  before  we  found  that  this  was  one  of 
the  times  when  Helen's  mother  was  right.  For 
then  it  began  to  rain.  The  driver  had  taken 
the  way  that  he  thought  was  toward  Queen 
Camel,  and  we  were  riding  across  a  great 
stretch  of  low,  level  land.  The  wind  swept 
across  it,  and  the  rain  came  at  us  in  sheets. 
We  didn't  mind  it  much,  with  our  mackin- 
toshes on,  but  I  did  think  that  it  was  fair  to  ask 
Helen  what  she  thought  of  the  poet  who  said 
that  this  Avalon  was  a  place  "  Where  falls  not 
hail,  or  rain,  or  any  snow." 

"  Maybe  it  is,"  she  answered,  pulling  her 
water-proof  hood  down  so  that  scarcely  a  bit  of 
her  could  be  seen,  except  the  tip  of  her  nose ; 
"  this  rain  doesn't  fall ;  it  just  comes  against  us 
sideways."  So  the  poet's  reputation  was  saved. 

It  could  not  rain  so  hard  as  this  very  long, 
and  by  and  by  it  stopped  altogether.  Then  it 
began  again,  and  there  were  showers  all  day. 
Sometimes  it  looked  as  if  it  were  going  to  stop 
for  good,  but  we  could  scarcely  get  our  water- 
proofs off  before  it  began  all  over. 

"  Isn't  it  curious,"  I  said,  "  that  a  storm  com- 


26     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

ing  up  just  here  should  remind  me  of  a  story  ? 
It  is  about  a  time  when  Gawain  had  to  go  out 
in  bad  weather.  This  is  the  right  time  to  tell 
the  story,  too,  while  we  are  looking  for  this 
particular  Camelot.  For  the  story  begins  at 
Camelot,  and  the  learned  man  who  first  dug  it 
out  of  its  old  manuscript  and  printed  it  says 
that  Camelot  was  in  Somerset. 

"King  Arthur  was  keeping  Christmas  at 
Camelot  with  his  knights.  The  feast  lasted  for 
many  days.  On  New  Year's  Day,  as  they  all 
sat  in  the  hall,  the  King  and  the  Queen  and  the 
knights,  there  rode  in  the  most  wonderful-look- 
ing man  whom  they  had  ever  seen.  He  was 
dressed  all  in  green,  and  the  big  horse  that  he 
rode  was  green.  And  that  was  not  all,  for  the 
hair  that  hung  down  upon  his  shoulders  was 
like  long,  waving  grass,  and  the  beard  that 
spread  over  his  breast  was  like  a  green  bush. 
He  wore  no  helmet  and  he  carried  no  shield  or 
spear.  In  one  hand  he  held  a  branch  of  holly 
and  in  the  other  a  battle-axe.  It  was  sharp  and 
polished  so  that  it  shone  like  silver.  '  Who  is 
the  chief  here  ?  '  he  cried. 

"  '  I  am  the  chief,'  Arthur  answered  ;  '  sit 
down  with  us  and  help  us  keep  our  feast.' 

"  '  I  have  not  come  to  eat  and  drink,'  said  the 
man  in  green.  '  I  have  come  to  see  if  it  is  true 
that  you  have  brave  knights  in  your  court, 
King  Arthur.' 


How    We  Discovered   Camelot        27 

"  '  Then  sit  and  eat  with  us  first/  Arthur  an- 
swered, 'and  afterwards  you  shall  have  as  many 
good  knights  to  joust  with  you  as  you  can  wish, 
and  you  shall  see  whether  they  are  brave.' 

" '  It  is  not  for  jousting  that  I  have  come, 
either/  said  the  man  in  green.  'Do  you  see 
this  axe  of  mine  ?  I  will  lend  it  to  any  knight 
in  this  hall  who  dares  to  strike  me  one  blow 
with  it,  only  he  must  promise  that  afterwards  I 
may  strike  him  one  blow  with  it,  too.  He  shall 
strike  me  with  the  axe  now,  and  I  will  strike 
him  with  it  a  year  from  this  day.' 

"This  was  such  a  new  way  of  proving 
whether  they  were  brave  or  not  that  for  a  min- 
ute none  of  the  knights  answered.  Then  the 
King  himself  rose  and  went  toward  the  man  in 
green.  '  Give  me  your  axe/  he  said  ;  '  none  of 
us  here  is  afraid  of  your  big  talk;  I  will  strike 
you  with  the  axe  myself,  and  you  shall  strike 
me  with  it  whenever  you  like.' 

"  Then  Gawain  sprang  from  his  seat.  Ga- 
wain  was  the  King's  nephew.  And  he  cried : 
'  My  lord,  let  me  try  this  game  with  him  !  You 
are  the  King,  and  if  any  harm  should  come  to 
you  it  would  be  the  harm  of  all  the  country, 
but  one  knight  more  or  less  will  count  but  lit- 
tle.' 

"  Then  many  other  knights  begged  the  King 
to  do  as  Gawain  had  said,  and  the  King  thought 
of  it  a  moment,  and  then  gave  the  axe,  which 


28     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

he  had  taken  from  the  man  in  green,  to  Ga- 
wain. 

"  '  Sir  Knight,'  said  the  man  in  green,  '  will 
you  tell  me  who  you  are  ?  ' 

" '  I  am  Gawain,'  he  said,  '  the  nephew  of 
King  Arthur.' 

"  '  I  have  heard  of  you,'  said  the  other,  '  and  I 
am  glad  that  I  shall  receive  my  blow  from  so 
great  a  knight.  But  will  you  promise  that  a 
year  from  now  you  will  seek  me  and  find  me,  so 
that  I  may  give  you  your  blow  in  return?' 

" '  I  do  not  know  who  you  are  or  where  you 
live,'  Gawain  answered.  '  If  you  will  tell  me 
your  name  and  where  to  find  you,  I  will  come 
to  you  when  the  year  is  over.' 

" '  I  will  tell  you  those  things,'  said  the  man 
in  green,  '  after  you  have  struck  me.  If  I  can- 
not tell  you  then,  you  will  be  free  of  your  prom- 
ise and  you  need  not  seek  me.' 

"  Then  the  man  in  green  came  down  from  his 
horse,  knelt  on  the  floor  before  Gawain,  put  his 
long,  green  hair  aside  from  his  neck,  and  told 
Gawain  to  strike.  Gawain  swung  the  axe  above 
his  head  and  brought  it  down  upon  the  neck  of 
the  man  in  green,  and  his  head  was  cut  cleanly 
off  and  rolled  upon  the  floor.  Instantly  the 
green  man  sprang  after  it  and  caught  it  in 
his  hands,  by  the  long,  green  hair.  He  sprang 
upon  his  horse  again  and  held  up  the  head,  with 
its  face  toward  Gawain.  '  Sir  Gawain,'  it  said? 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        29 

'seek  for  me  till  you  find  me,  a  year  from  now, 
so  that  I  may  return  your  good  blow.  Bring-  the 
axe  with  you,  and  ask,  wherever  you  go,  for  the 
Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel.'  Then  he  rode  out 
of  the  hall  and  away,  still  carrying  the  head  in 
his  hands. 

"  Of  course  Gawain  and  the  King  and  all  the 
rest  thought  that  this  was  the  strangest  advent- 
ure that  they  had  ever  seen.  They  were  all 
sorry  for  Gawain  and  they  all  wondered  what 
would  become  of  him,  but  there  was  no  danger 
for  a  year,  and  that  always  seems  a  long  time,  at 
the  beginning  of  it.  So,  as  the  time  went  on, 
they  almost  forgot  about  the  Knight  of  the 
Green  Chapel,  and  even  Gawain  himself  seemed 
to  have  no  dread  of  him.  And  the  year  went 
past  like  other  years.  Yet  Gawain  was  not  for- 
getting his  promise,  and,  as  the  time  came  near 
when  he  must  keep  it,  he  began  to  wonder  more 
and  more  who  this  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel 
could  be  and  where  he  must  go  to  look  for  him. 
'  It  may  take  me  a  long  time  to  find  him,'  he  said 
to  the  King  at  last,  'and  so  I  mean  to  leave  the 
court  and  to  begin  my  search  on  All  Saints' 
Day.' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  the  King, '  that  will  be  best.  And 
we  know  all  the  places  and  nearly  all  the  knights 
here  in  the  South  and  in  the  West  of  England, 
and  over  in  the  East,  but  we  have  never 
heard  of  this  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel, 


30     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Tabh 

so  it  will  be  best  for  you  to  seek  him  in  the 
North.' 

"  So,  on  All  Saints'  Day,  King  Arthur  made  a  ; 
feast,  that  all  the  knights  of  the  court  might  be 
together  and  bid  Gawain  good-by.  They  called 
it  a  feast,  but  there  was  no  happiness  in  it. 
They  were  all  sad  at  the  parting  and  with  the 
fear  that  Gawain  would  never  come  back. 

"  And  when  the  time  came  they  helped  Ga- 
wain to  put  on  the  finest  armor  that  could  be 
found  for  him  and  he  mounted  his  horse  and  left 
them.  He  rode  slowly  at  first,  and  as  soon  as  he 
came  to  places  that  he  did  not  know  he  began 
to  ask  the  people  whom  he  met  if  they  could  tell 
him  where  to  find  the  Green  Chapel  and  the 
Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel.  But  no  one  had 
ever  heard  of  such  a  place  or  of  such  a  person. 

"  He  went  farther  and  farther  into  the  North, 
and  as  his  time  grew  shorter  he  tried  to  travel 
faster,  for  he  felt  that  it  would  be  a  shame  to 
him  if  he  did  not  find  the  Knight  of  the  Green 
Chapel  by  New  Year's  Day.  Up  great  hills  he 
went  and  down  into  deep  valleys,  across  wide, 
lonely  plains,  with  freezing  winds  sweeping  over 
them,  and  through  dark  forests,  where  the  wind 
cried  up  among  the  treetops  and  the  trees 
groaned  and  sighed  in  answer.  Often  he  met 
wild  beasts,  wolves  that  barked  and  leaped  and 
sprang  about  him  and  tried  to  pull  down  his 
horse.  But  he  killed  them  or  beat  them  and 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        31 

drove  them  away.  Then  he  came  to  plains 
where  for  many  miles  he  saw  no  houses  and  no 
people.  Often  he  had  to  sleep  in  his  armor,  ly- 
ing on  the  ground.  Often  he  had  to  go  so  long 
without  food  that  he  was  faint  with  hunger,  as 
well  as  weary. 

"As  the  days  went  by  the  winter  came  on 
rougher  and  stormier  and  colder.  Then  the 
winds  that  swept  across  the  plains  were  full  of 
driving  rain  and  sleet  and  snow.  They  cut 
against  his  face  and  almost  blinded  him,  and  his 
horse  could  scarcely  labor  through  the  drifts  and 
stand  against  the  storm.  The  wet  sleet  found 
its  way  into  the  joints  of  his  armor  and  froze 
there,  and  it  froze  into  the  chains  of  his  mail  and 
choked  them  up,  so  that  it  was  all  rigid  and 
hard,  and  it  was  as  if  all  that  he  wore  were  one 
solid  piece  of  iron  or  ice.  So  terrible  it  was  that 
he  almost  forgot  why  he  had  come,  and  all  that 
he  wanted  was  to  find  some  place  where  he  and 
his  horse  could  rest  and  be  warm.  But  at  night 
he  must  get  off  his  horse,  though  he  could 
scarcely  bend  his  limbs,  in  his  frozen  armor,  and 
lie  down  in  it,  with  no  shelter  but  a  tree,  or  per- 
haps a  high  rock,  and  try  to  sleep  till  the  light 
came,  so  that  he  could  go  on  again. 

"  Yet  wherever  he  saw  any  people  he  asked 
them  if  they  knew  of  the  Knight  of  the  Green 
Chapel,  and  always  they  answered  no.  Then  he 
told  them  how  the  knight  looked,  but  they  all 


32     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

shook  their  heads  or  stared  at  him  or  laughed, 
and  they  all  said  that  they  had  never  seen  such 
a  knight.  Some  of  them  thought  that  he  must 
be  mad,  to  be  wandering  all  by  himself  and  ask- 
ing for  a  knight  with  green  hair  and  a  green 
beard,  and  sometimes  Gawain  himself  almost 
thought  that  he  must  be  mad.  Sometimes  he 
thought:  'I  will  hunt  for  him  only  till  New 
Year's  Day.  If  I  have  not  found  him  then  it  is 
his  fault  that  he  did  not  tell  me  where  to  come, 
and  I  shall  be  free  of  my  promise.'  And  then 
at  other  times  he  thought :  '  I  will  not  count  my 
promise  as  so  small  a  thing;  I  will  seek  this 
knight  as  long  as  I  live,  if  I  do  not  find  him, 
for  the  honor  of  King  Arthur  and  the  Round 
Table.' 

"  And  the  cold  and  the  storm  and  the  long, 
rough  journey  seemed  worst  of  all  to  Gawain  on 
Christmas  Eve,  for  then  he  thought  most  of  the 
King  and  the  Queen  and  the  knights  whom  he 
had  left  at  Camelot.  He  knew  that  they  were 
all  together  in  the  great  hall  now,  that  the  fires 
were  blazing,  that  the  minstrels  were  singing, 
and  that  a  noble  feast  was  spread  upon  the 
Round  Table.  He  thought  of  his  own  place  at 
that  table,  where  he  had  sat  a  year  ago,  empty 
now.  Did  the  others  look  at  that  seat  and  think 
of  him  and  wonder  where  he  was  ?  It  was  a  com- 
mon thing,  he  knew,  for  Arthur's  knights  to  be 
away  from  the  hall  seeking  adventures,  and  he 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        33 

knew  that  those  who  were  left  behind  went  on 
with  their  feasting  at  such  times  as  these,  just  as 
if  all  were  there.  No,  it  was  a  little  thing  to 
them  that  he  was  gone,  he  thought.  They  were 
laughing  together  and  eating  and  drinking,  and 
perhaps  some  one  was  telling  them  some  strange 
old  tale,  and  they  were  warm  and  happy ;  and 
the  light  of  the  fires  and  the  torches  was  shin- 
ing on  the  windows  of  the  hall,  so  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country  miles  away  could  see  it  and 
could  say :  '  King  Arthur  and  his  knights  are  at 
Camelot  to-night  keeping  the  Christmas  feast.' 
And  here  was  he  alone,  cold,  hungry,  weary, 
riding  over  the  rough  ways  and  through  the 
rough  night,  to  find  a  man  who  was  to  kill  him. 

"  Then  there  came  another  thought  that  made 
him  stronger:  'The  honor  of  the  Round  Table 
to-night  is  not  all  with  those  who  sit  about  it ; 
it  is  here  with  me  too.  I  am  here  because  it 
was  I  who  dared  to  come,  for  the  King  and  for 
all  of  them.  If  I  never  go  back  the  King  and  all 
of  them  will  know  that,  and  they  will  not  forget. 
And  now  my  time  is  short  and  I  must  not  rest 
any  more.  I  will  ride  all  night  and  go  as  far  as 
I  can  to  find  the  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel  by 
New  Year's  Day.' 

"  So  Gawain  rode  all  night.  In  the  morning 
he  was  in  a  great  forest,  where  it  would  have 
been  too  dark  for  him  to  ride,  but  for  the  snow 
that  lay  everywhere,  so  that  he  could  dimly  see 


34     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  black  trunks  of  the  trees  against  it.  And 
before  the  first  cold  light  of  the  late  morning  fell 
into  the  forest,  he  saw  it  touch  the  top  of  a  high 
hill  before  him,  and  there  he  saw  a  castle.  It 
was  one  of  the  greatest  castles  he  had  ever  seen, 
with  strong  towers  and  thick  walls  and  high 
ramparts.  And  as  soon  as  he  saw  it,  it  seemed 
to  him  as  if  the  last  strength  went  out  of  him 
and  his  horse  too,  so  that  they  could  scarcely 
climb  the  hill  to  come  to  the  gate  and  ask  if  they 
might  come  in. 

"  But  they  reached  the  gate  and  the  porter 
said  :  '  Come  in,  Sir  Knight ;  the  lord  of  the  cas- 
tle will  welcome  you  and  you  can  stay  as  long 
as  you  will.'  And  the  lord  of  the  castle  did  wel- 
come him  and  Gawain  let  his  men  lead  him  to 
a  chamber,  where  they  took  off  his  armor  and 
gave  him  a  rich  robe  to  wear.  Then  they  led 
him  back  to  the  hall  and  placed  him  at  the  table 
with  the  lord  and  his  wife  and  his  daughter. 

"  They  asked  him  who  he  was,  and  he  told 
them  that  he  was  Gawain,  a  knight  of  the 
Round  Table.  '  It  is  a  proud  day  for  us,'  said 
the  lord,  '  so  far  away  up  here  in  the  North, 
when  a  knight  comes  to  us  from  the  court  of 
King  Arthur,  and  now  you  will  stay  with  us 
and  help  us  keep  our  Christmas.' 

"  '  No,'  said  Gawain,  '  I  cannot  stay,  for  I 
must  go  on  and  find  the  Knight  of  the  Green 
Chapel,'  and  then  he  told  them  all  that  he 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        35 

knew  about  this  knight  and  why  he  had  made 
this  journey. 

"  '  Then  you  will  stay  with  us/  said  the  lord, 
'  for  the  Green  Chapel  is  only  two  miles  from 
here,  and  on  New  Year's  Day  some  one  of  my 
servants  shall  show  you  the  way  there.' 

"  So  Gawain  stayed,  and,  on  the  third  day 
after  he  had  come  to  the  castle,  the  lord  told 
him  that  on  the  next  day  he  was  going  hunt- 
ing and  asked  Gawain  if  he  would  go  too. 
'  No,'  Gawain  answered,  '  it  is  only  four  days 
now  before  I  must  go  to  the  Knight  of  the 
Green  Chapel.  I  have  no  magic,  such  as  he 
has,  to  guard  myself  against  him,  and  he  will 
kill  me.  It  is  not  a  time  now  for  me  to  think 
of  hunting  or  of  other  pleasures.  I  must  think 
of  more  solemn  things.' 

"  '  Then  shall  we  make  a  bargain  ?'  said  the 
lord.  '  I  will  go  to  the  hunt  to-morrow,  and 
you  shall  stay  here  at  the  castle.  When  I  come 
home  I  will  give  you  all  that  I  have  got  in  the 
hunt,  and  you  shall  give  me  all  that  you  have 
got  by  staying  here.' 

"  '  It  shall  be  so,  if  you  wish  it,'  said 
Gawain. 

"  The  next  morning  the  lord  and  his  men 
were  away  early  at  the  hunt.  Gawain  break- 
fasted with  the  lady  of  the  castle  and  her  daugh- 
ter, and  afterward  they  left  him  and  he  sat 
alone  in  the  hall.  Then  the  lord's  daughter 


36      The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

came  back,  without  her  mother,  and  sat  on  the 
seat  beside  him.  '  Sir  Knight/  she  said,  '  will 
you  tell  me  about  King  Arthur's  court  ? ' 

"  '  What  shall  I  tell  you  ?  '  he  asked. 

"  '  We  are  so  far  away  from  all  the  world 
here!'  she  said.  'We  never  see  a  town  or  a 
court  or  any  people,  except  those  who  live 
here  with  us.  But  sometimes  we  hear  strange 
things  and  beautiful  things  about  Camelot  and 
Caerleon  and  London  and  the  court  of  King 
Arthur.  They  say  that  we  cannot  believe  how 
grand  it  is,  and  they  say  that  there  are  such 
feasts  and  tournaments,  and  that  all  the  knights 
and  the  ladies  are  so  happy  there  in  King 
Arthur's  court !  And  oh  !  will  you  tell  me  one 
thing  !  Is  it  true  that  every  knight  of  King 
Arthur's  has  some  lady  whom  he  loves  more 
than  anybody  else,  and  is  it  true  that  every 
lady  has  some  knight  whom  she  loves,  who 
fights  for  her  and  wears  something  that  she 
gave  him,  a  sleeve  or  a  chain  or  a  jewel,  and 
tells  everybody  that  she  is  the  most  beautiful 
lady  in  the  world  ? ' 

"  '  There  are  many  knights,'  Gawain  an- 
swered, '  who  have  ladies  whom  they  love  and 
who  love  them,  and  they  do  all  the  things  that 
you  have  said/ 

"  The  girl  looked  at  Gawain  and  was  silent 
for  a  little  while,  and  then  she  said :  '  Sir 
Knight,  is  it  too  much  that  I  am  going  to  ask  ? 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        37 

I  would  not  ask  you  to  be  my  knight,  for  there 
must  be  many  ladies  in  King  Arthur's  court 
more  beautiful  and  more  noble  than  I  am. 
You  would  have  to  love  some  one  of  them,  I 
suppose.  Only  do  not  tell  me  so,  and  I  will  not 
ask  you.  But  after  you  have  gone  let  me  re- 
member you  and  love  you,  and  I  will  try  not 
to  think  whether  you  love  me  or  not.' 

"  '  My  child,'  said  Gawain,  '  I  am  here  in 
your  father's  castle  and  he  trusts  me,  and  it  is 
not  right  that  I  should  talk  to  you  of  such 
things  without  his  leave.  And  besides  that,  it 
is  not  right  for  me  to  think  of  such  things  now. 
You  know  that  I  am  going  to  find  the  Knight  of 
the  Green  Chapel.  Your  father  has  promised 
that  on  New  Year's  Day  he  will  send  me  to 
him.  Then  the  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel 
will  kill  me.  I  have  only  three  days  more  to 
live,  and  it  is  no  time  for  me  to  think  of  love.' 

"  '  But  why  must  you  find  this  wicked  Knight 
of  the  Green  Chapel?'  she  asked.  '  Go  back  to 
Camelot  and  tell  the  King  and  the  knights  that 
you  fought  him  and  that  he  could  not  hurt  you. 
Nobody  will  know  but  us.  We  never  go  to  court 
and  we  never  would  tell  anybody  what  you  had 
done.' 

"  '  No,  no,'  said  Gawain,  '  I  promised  him  that 
I  would  find  him.  Now  I  must  find  him  or  I 
never  could  go  back  to  King  Arthur's  court  or 
be  one  of  his  knights  again.' 


38      The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  Then  the  girl  started  to  go  out  of  the  hall, 
but  when  she  was  at  the  door  she  turned  and 
came  back  to  Gawain.  '  Will  you  let  me  kiss 
you  just  once  ? '  she  said.  And  Gawain  let  her 
kiss  him  and  she  went  away. 

"  At  night,  when  the  lord  of  the  castle  came 
home  from  the  hunt,  he  brought  with  him  a 
deer  that  he  had  killed.  He  gave  it  to  Gawain 
and  said:  '  This  is  what  I  got  in  the  hunt ;  now 
give  me  what  you  got  by  staying  behind.' 

"  Then  Gawain  gave  him  a  kiss.  '  Indeed/ 
said  the  lord,  '  I  think  that  you  have  done  bet- 
ter than  I.  Where  did  you  get  this?' 

"  '  It  was  not  in  our  bargain,'  said  Gawain, 
4  that  I  should  tell  you  that' 

"  '  Very  well,  then,'  said  the  lord,  '  shall  we 
make  the  same  bargain  for  to-morrow?' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  Gawain,  '  if  you  wish  it.' 

"  So  the  next  day  the  lord  rode  to  the  hunt 
again  and  Gawain  stayed  behind,  as  he  had 
done  before.  And  again  the  lord's  daughter 
came  to  him  as  he  sat  in  the  hall.  '  Sir  Knight,' 
she  said,  '  is  it  because  you  have  some  other 
lady  whom  you  love  that  you  will  not  let  me  be 
your  lady  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  to  love  me,  you 
know,  only  to  let  me  love  you.' 

"  '  No,'  Gawain  answered,  '  I  have  no  lady, 
and  if  I  might  have  any  now,  I  could  love  you 
as  well  as  any  other,  but  I  have  only  two  more 
days  to  live  and  I  must  not  think  of  such  things.' 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        39 

"  Then  the  girl  kissed  him  twice  and  went 
away.  When  the  lord  came  back  that  evening 
he  brought  the  head  and  the  sides  of  a  wild 
boar  that  he  had  killed.  He  gave  these  to  Ga- 
wain  and  Gawain  gave  him  two  kisses.  '  You 
always  have  better  luck  than  I,'  said  the  lord. 

"  Then  they  made  the  same  bargain  for  the 
third  day,  and  in  the  morning  the  lord  rode  to 
the  hunt  and  Gawain  stayed  behind.  As  he  sat 
in  the  hall  the  lord's  daughter  came  to  him 
again.  '  Sir  Knight,'  she  said,  'since  you  will 
do  nothing  else,  will  you  not  wear  something 
of  mine,  as  the  knights  at  King  Arthur's  court 
do  for  their  ladies  ?  See,  this  is  it,  my  girdle 
of  green  lace.  And  it  is  good  for  a  knight  to 
wear,  for  while  you  have  this  around  your  body 
you  can  never  be  wounded.' 

"  Then  Gawain  thought  that  such  a  girdle  as 
this  would  indeed  be  of  use  to  him,  when  the 
time  came  for  the  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel 
to  strike  him  with  his  axe.  So  he  took  the  gir- 
dle and  thanked  her  for  it,  and  she  kissed  him 
three  times  and  went  away. 

"  That  night  the  lord  of  the  castle  brought 
home  the  skin  of  a  fox.  He  gave  it  to  Gawain 
and  Gawain  gave  him  three  kisses.  '  Your 
luck  grows  better  every  day,'  said  the  lord. 

"  Early  the  next  morning  Gawain  rose  and 
called  for  his  armor  and  his  horse.  One  of 
the  lord's  servants  was  to  show  him  the  way 


4O     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

to  the  Green  Chapel.  The  snow  was  falling 
again  and  there  was  a  fierce,  cold  wind.  It 
was  not  daylight  yet.  They  rode  over  rough 
hills  and  through  deep  valleys  for  a  long  time, 
and  at  last,  when  it  had  grown  as  light  as  it 
would  be  at  all  on  such  a  dull,  dreary  day,  the 
servant  stopped.  '  You  are  not  far  now,'  he 
said,  '  from  the  Green  Chapel.  I  can  go  with 
you  no  farther.  Ride  on  into  this  valley. 
When  you  are  at  the  bottom  of  it  look  to  your 
left  and  you  will  see  the  chapel/ 

"  Then  the  servant  turned  back  and  left  Ga- 
wain  alone.  He  rode  to  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  and  looked  about,  but  nothing  like  a 
chapel  did  he  see.  But  at  last  he  saw  a  hole  in 
a  great  rock,  a  cave,  with  vines,  loaded  down 
with  snow,  almost  hiding  its  mouth.  Then  it 
seemed  to  Gawain  that  he  heard  a  sound  inside 
the  cave,  and  he  called  aloud  :  '  Is  the  Knight 
of  the  Green  Chapel  here?  Gawain  has  come 
to  keep  his  promise  to  him.  He  has  brought 
his  axe,  so  that  he  may  pay  back  the  blow  that 
he  received  a  year  ago.  Is  the  Knight  of  the 
Green  Chapel  here  ? ' 

"  Then  a  voice  from  the  cave  said :  '  I  am 
here,  Sir  Gawain,  and  I  am  waiting  for  you. 
You  have  kept  your  time  well.' 

"And  then  out  of  the  cave  came  the  Green 
Knight.  It  seemed  to  Gawain  that  he  looked 
stronger  and  fiercer  than  when  he  was  at 


How    We  Discovered  Came  lot        41 

Arthur's  court,  and  that  his  hair  and  beard 
were  longer  and  of  a  brighter  green.  '  Give 
me  my  axe,'  he  cried,  '  and  take  off  your  helmet 
and  be  ready  for  my  stroke.  Let  us  not  delay  ! ' 

"  '  I  want  no  delay,'  said  Gawain,  and  he  took 
off  his  helmet,  knelt  down  on  the  snow  and  bent 
his  neck,  ready  for  the  knight  to  strike.  The 
Green  Knight  raised  his  axe,  and  then,  in  spite 
of  himself,  Gawain  drew  a  little  away  from 
him. 

"  '  How  is  this  ?  '  said  the  Green  Knight ; 
'  are  you  afraid  ?  I  did  not  flinch  when  you 
struck  me,  a  year  ago.' 

" '  I  shall  not  flinch  again,'  said  Gawain ; 
4  strike  quickly.' 

"  Then  the  knight  raised  his  axe  a  second 
time  and  Gawain  was  as  still  as  a  stone.  But 
this  time  the  axe  did  not  fall.  '  Now  I  must 
strike  you,'  said  the  Green  Knight. 

"  '  Strike,  then,  and  do  not  talk  about  it,'  said 
Gawain ;  '  I  believe  you  yourself  are  losing 
heart.' 

"  This  time  the  knight  swung  the  axe  quickly 
up  over  his  head  and  brought  it  down  with  a 
mighty  force  upon  Gawain's  neck,  and  it  made 
only  a  little  scratch.  The  girdle  of  green  lace 
would  not  let  him  be  wounded.  Then  he  sprang 
up  and  drew  his  sword  and  cried  :  '  Now,  Knight 
of  the  Green  Chapel,  take  care  of  yourself.  I 
have  kept  my  promise  and  let  you  strike  me 


42      The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

once,  but  I  warn  you  that  if  you  strike  again  I 
shall  resist  you.' 

" '  Put  up  your  sword,'  the  Knight  of  the 
Green  Chapel  answered ;  '  I  do  not  want  to 
harm  you.  I  could  have  used  you  much  worse 
than  I  have,  if  I  had  wished.  I  tried  only  to 
prove  you,  and  you  are  the  bravest  and  the 
truest  knight  that  I  have  ever  found.  I  am  the 
lord  of  the  castle  where  you  have  stayed  for  this 
last  week.  I  knew  where  you  got  your  kisses, 
for  I  myself  sent  my  daughter  to  you  to  try 
you,  and  you  would  not  do  what  you  thought 
would  not  be  right  toward  me,  and  you  would 
not  let  any  thoughts  of  love  turn  you  aside  from 
your  promise  to  the  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel. 
You  were  well  tried  and  you  proved  most  true. 
It  was  because  of  that  and  because  you  kept 
your  word  to  me  on  the  first  two  days  that  I 
went  to  the  hunt,  that  I  did  not  strike  you  the 
first  or  the  second  time  that  I  raised  my  axe. 
But  the  third  time  I  did  strike  you,  because 
you  were  untrue  to  me  in  one  little  thing.  For 
you  said  that  you  would  give  me  all  that  you 
got  by  staying  in  the  castle,  yet  you  did  not 
give  me  the  girdle  of  green  lace.  It  was  I  who 
sent  that  to  you  by  my  daughter,  too.  But  you 
kept  it  only  to  save  your  life,  and  so  I  forgive 
you,  and  to  show  you  that  I  forgive  you,  you 
may  keep  it  now  always.' 

"  But  Gawain  tore  off  the  girdle  and  threw  it 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        43 

at  the  feet  of  the  Knight  of  the  Green  Chapel. 
'  Take  it  back  ! '  he  cried, '  I  do  not  deserve  ever 
to  be  called  an  honorable  knight  again  !  I  came 
here  for  the  honor  of  the  Round  Table,  and 
then  I  broke  my  promise  to  you.  Tell  me  why 
you  came  to  our  court  and  why  you  brought 
me  to  this  shame,  and  then  I  will  go  back  to 
King  Arthur  and  tell  him  that  I  am  not  worthy 
any  longer  to  be  one  of  his  knights.  He  will 
ask  me  why  you  did  this,  so  tell  me  and  let  me 
go  away,  for  now  I  have  lied  to  you  and  I  can- 
not look  you  in  the  face.' 

"  «  I  did  it,'  said  the  Knight  of  the  Green 
Chapel,  '  because  the  great  enchantress,  Queen 
Morgan-le-Fay,  King  Arthur's  sister,  who  hates 
him,  told  me  that  all  his  knights  were  cowards. 
She  said  that  all  who  praised  them  lied  or  were 
themselves  deceived  and  that  some  good  knight 
ought  to  go  and  prove  them  to  be  the  cowards 
that  they  were.  So  I  went  to  try  whether  they 
were  brave  or  not,  and  it  was  by  the  magic  of 
Queen  Morgan-le-Fay  that  I  was  not  killed  when 
you  cut  off  my  head.  But  now  I  see  that  what 
I  did  was  wrong.  It  was  Morgan-le-Fay,  I  see 
now,  who  hoped  to  bring  shame  on  King  Ar- 
thur's court,  because  she  hated  him.  And  you 
have  shown  me  that  Arthur's  knights  are  brave 
and  true,  for  you  took  my  challenge  and  came 
up  here  into  the  North  to  find  me  and  to  let  me 
kill  you.  Now  come  back  with  me  to  my 


44      The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

castle  and  help  us  to  keep  the  festival  of  the 
New  Year.  Take  up  your  girdle  and  come.' 

"  But  Gawain  was  still  filled  with  shame  and 
horror  at  what  he  had  done.  '  I  will  not  go 
back  with  you,'  he  said,  '  but  I  will  keep  the 
girdle  to  remind  me  of  this  time.  If  I  ever  feel 
that  I  am  doing  better  things  and  if  I  ever  be- 
gin to  grow  proud  of  them,  I  will  look  at  this 
girdle  and  it  will  make  me  remember  how  I 
broke  my  word.' 

"  And  Gawain  would  not  listen  to  anything 
more  that  the  knight  said,  but  he  mounted  his 
horse  and  turned  him  toward  the  south  and  rode 
away.  Gawain  never  knew  what  happened  to 
him  on  that  journey  back  to  Camelot.  Perhaps 
the  nights  were  as  cold  and  the  ways  as  rough 
as  they  had  been  before.  Perhaps  the  wild 
beasts  came  against  him  again.  Perhaps  the 
storms  still  drove  the  snow  and  the  sleet  against 
him,  so  that  they  cut  him  in  the  face  and  froze 
into  his  armor.  He  cared  for  none  of  these 
things  and  he  remembered  none  of  them  after- 
wards. His  one  thought  was  to  get  back  to 
Camelot  and  tell  the  King  that  he  was  no 
longer  worthy  to  be  his  knight,  and  then  to  go 
where  no  one  who  had  known  him  should  ever 
see  him  again. 

"  And  so  he  rode  on,  as  fast  as  he  could,  for 
he  did  not  know  how  many  days,  and  at  last, 
in  the  early  winter  evening,  he  saw  the  glow  in 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        45 

the  windows  of  the  castle  at  Camelot.  Once 
more  he  hurried  his  horse  till  he  reached  the 
gate.  He  threw  himself  down  from  the  saddle 
and  hastened  to  the  hall,  where  a  great  shout 
went  up :  '  Gawain  is  alive  and  he  has  come 
back! '  and  the  knights  and  the  ladies  crowded 
around  him  to  ask  him  where  he  had  been  and 
what  he  had  seen  and  done.  He  pushed  his 
way  through  them  all  and  threw  himself  down 
upon  the  floor  before  the  King.  He  told  all  of 
his  story,  how  he  had  gone  out  for  the  honor 
of  the  Round  Table  and  how  he  had  broken 
his  word  and  been  shamed,  and  at  the  end  he 
held  up  the  girdle  of  green  lace  and  said  :  '  My 
lord,  I  shall  leave  you  now  and  I  shall  never 
see  you  again,  for  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  your 
knight,  but  I  shall  carry  this  with  me,  and  I 
shall  always  wear  it,  so  that  I  never  can  forget 
my  shame.' 

"  And  the  King  answered  :  '  Gawain,  you  are 
still  among  the  best  of  my  knights.  You  failed 
a  little  at  last,  but  it  was  no  coward  and  no  false 
knight  who  went  up  there  to  seek  his  death 
and  to  keep  a  promise  that  he  need  not  have 
kept.  Wear  your  girdle,  but  it  shall  be  no 
shame  to  you.  And  that  it  may  be  none,  all  my 
knights  shall  wear  girdles  of  green  lace  like  it.' 

"  So  the  story  says  that  all  of  King  Arthur's 
knights  wore  green  lace  girdles  in  honor  of 
Gawain.  I  don't  know  what  became  of  the 


46     7*he  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

girdles  afterwards,  but  they  cannot  have  worn 
them  always,  or  at  least  Gawain  cannot  have 
worn  his.  For  you  know  he  could  never  be 
wounded  while  he  had  it  on,  and  he  certainly 
was  wounded  afterwards.  But  I  will  tell  you 
about  that  when  I  get  to  it." 

About  the  time  that  we  got  to  the  end  of  this 
story  we  came  to  a  place  which  the  driver  said 
was  as  far  from  Glastonbury  as  he  had  ever 
been  in  this  direction.  We  stopped  at  a  little 
inn  by  the  road,  and  the  driver  asked  the  way 
to  Queen  Camel.  We  also  asked  the  man  who 
told  him  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  a  hill  or  of  any 
sort  of  place  about. here  called  Camelot,  but  he 
never  had.  So  we  went  on  to  find  it  for  our- 
selves. After  more  riding  and  more  asking  of 
the  way  and  more  showers,  we  came  to  Queen 
Camel.  It  was  past  luncheon-time  then,  and, 
what  was  more  to  the  point,  it  was  past  the 
horse's  luncheon-time.  So  we  decided  that  we 
would  not  go  any  farther  till  we  had  all  had 
something  to  eat. 

The  Bell  looked  like  the  best  hotel  in  the  place, 
so  we  went  there  and  astonished  the  proprietor 
and  all  the  servants  by  asking  for  something  to 
eat.  But  we  got  it,  and  while  we  were  at  lunch- 
eon the  driver  put  the  horse  in  the  stable  and 
then  talked  with  the  proprietor,  to  find  out 
whether  he  knew  anything  about  Camelot. 
Now  the  keeper  of  this  bit  of  an  hotel  must 


How    We  Discovered  Camelot        47 

have  been  a  remarkably  intelligent  man,  for  he 
really  did  know  something  about  it.  He  came 
in  to  see  us  and  he  said  that  he  thought  that  it 
must  be  Cadbury  Castle  that  we  were  looking 
for.  Then  a  great  light  shone  upon  me  and  I 
remembered  what  I  ought  to  have  remembered 
before,  that  one  of  my  books  at  home  had  said 
that  it  was  called  Cadbury  Castle  now.  "  But 
do  they  not  call  it  Carnelot  too  ?  "  I  asked  him. 
I  did  not  like  to  give  up  that  name. 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir,"  he  said,  "  they  call  it  Camelot 
too." 

"And  do  they  say  that  King  Arthur  lived 
there?" 

"  No,  sir,  he  didn't  live  there ;  he  placed  his 
army  there." 

Then  the  landlord  went  away  and  came  back 
with  a  big  book,  a  history  of  Somersetshire,  or 
something  of  that  sort,  to  show  us  what  it  had 
to  say  about  Cadbury  Castle.  It  did  not  say 
much  that  I  did  not  know  before,  but  it  said 
enough  to  prove  what  I  wanted  to  know  most 
of  all.  And  that  was  that  this  Cadbury  Castle 
was  without  any  doubt  the  place  that  we  were 
looking  for.  We  finished  our  luncheon,  the  land- 
lord showed  us  our  way,  and  we  went  on  again. 

It  was  only  a  little  way  now.  We  were  to  find 
a  steep  road  that  led  up  the  side  of  the  hill  to 
Cadbury  Castle.  It  was  too  steep,  we  were  told, 
to  take  our  carriage  up,  and  we  should  have  to 


48      The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

leave  it  at  the  bottom  and  walk.  And  so  it 
proved.  We  found  the  hill  and  the  steep  little 
track  up  its  side.  We  got  down  from  the  car- 
riage, and,  while  we  waited  for  the  driver  to 
find  a  safe  place  to  leave  the  horse,  we  gazed  up 
the  hill,  along  the  rough  little  road,  and  knew 
that  at  last  we  were  before  the  gates  of  Camelot. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  BOY   FROM  THE  FOREST 

WE  walked  up  the  steep  road,  and  just  before 
we  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  the  rain  began 
again.  There  was  one  little  house  near  the  top 
and  we  decided  to  let  Camelot  wait  for  a  few 
minutes  longer  and  go  into  the  house  and  stay 
till  the  rain  stopped. 

The  woman  of  the  house  seemed  to  be  glad 
to  see  us,  and  she  asked  us  to  write  our  names 
in  her  visitors'  book.  The  names  and  the  dates 
in  the  book  showed  that  Camelot  had  some  six 
or  eight  visitors  a  year.  Of  course  we  tried  to 
get  the  woman  to  tell  us  something  about  the 
place,  and  of  course  we  failed.  She  knew  that 
it  was  called  Cadbury  Castle  and  sometimes 
Camelot  and  sometimes  the  Camp.  She  knew 
that  the  well  close  by  her  house  was  called  King 
Arthur's  Well,  but  she  did  not  know  why.  The 
water  in  it  was  not  good  to  drink,  and  in  dry 
times  they  could  not  get  water  from  it  at  all. 

49 


50     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

She  got  drinking-water  and  in  dry  times  all  the 
water  that  she  used  from  St.  Anne's  Wishing 
Well,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  around  the  hill.  She 
did  not  know  what  that  name  meant  either. 
She  used  to  have  a  book  that  told  all  about  the 
place,  but  she  couldn't  show  it  to  us,  because  it 
had  been  lent  to  somebody  and  had  never  been 
returned.  The  vicar  had  studied  a  good  deal 
about  the  place  too,  and  he  knew  all  about  it. 
Could  we  find  the  vicar  and  get  him  to  tell  us 
about  it?  Oh,  no,  it  wasn't  the  present  vicar, 
it  was  the  old  vicar,  and  he  was  dead. 

So  we  gave  up  learning  anything  and  waited 
for  the  rain  to  stop,  and  then  went  out  to  see  as 
much  as  we  could  for  ourselves.  The  hilltop 
was  broad  and  level.  I  can't  tell  just  how  broad, 
because  I  am  no  judge  of  acres,  but  I  believe  it 
was  several.  It  had  a  low  wall  of  earth  around 
it,  covered  with  grass,  of  course,  like  all  the  rest 
of  the  place.  When  we  stood  on  the  top  of  this 
wall  and  looked  down,  we  saw  that  the  ground 
sloped  away  from  us  till  it  made  a  sort  of  ditch, 
and  then  rose  again  and  made  another  earth 
wall,  a  little  way  down  the  hillside.  Then  it  did 
the  same  thing  again,  and  yet  once  more.  So 
in  its  time  this  hilltop  must  have  had  four  strong 
walls  around  it.  It  really  looked  much  more 
like  a  fort  or  camp  than  like  a  city.  It  seemed 
too  small  for  a  city,  though  it  might  have  been 
a  pretty  big  camp.  If  we  had  been  looking  for 


The  Boy  from  the  Forest  51 

hard  facts,  I  think  we  should  have  believed  what 
the  hotel-keeper  had  said,  that  this  was  not 
where  King  Arthur  lived,  but  where  he  placed 
his  army. 

I  remembered  reading  somewhere  that  the 
Britons  and  the  Romans  and  the  Saxons  had  all 
held  this  place  at  different  times.  I  had  read, 
too,  I  was  sure,  that  parts  of  old  walls,  of  a 
dusky  blue  stone,  and  old  coins  had  been  found 
here.  It  was  a  fine  place  for  a  camp  or  a  castle. 
It  was  so  high  and  breezy  and  we  could  see  for 
so  many  miles  across  the  country,  that  we  could 
understand  how  useful  and  pleasant  it  must 
have  been  for  either  or  for  both.  It  was  pleas- 
ant enough  now,  this  broad,  grassy  hilltop,  with 
its  four  grassy  wails  and  the  woodland  sloping 
away  from  it  all  around.  But  nobody  lived  here 
now  to  enjoy  it — nobody,  that  is  to  say,  but  the 
rabbits.  For  the  place  is  theirs  now,  and  they 
dig  holes  in  the  ground  and  make  their  houses 
where  King  Arthur's  castle  stood,  where  he 
and  his  knights  sat  in  the  hall  about  the  Round 
Table,  and  where  all  the  greatest  of  the  world 
came  to  see  all  that  was  richest  and  noblest  and 
best  for  kings  and  knights  to  be  and  to  enjoy. 

The  rabbits  scuttled  across  our  way,  as  we 
walked  about,  and  leaped  into  their  holes,  when 
we  came  near,  and  then  looked  timidly  out 
again,  when  we  had  gone  past,  and  wondered 
what  we  were  doing  and  what  right  we  had 


52     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

here  in  their  Camelot.  There  were  only  these 
holes  now,  where  once  there  were  palaces  and 
churches,  and  no  traces  of  old  glories,  but  the 
walls  of  earth  and  turf.  Yet  it  seemed  better 
to  me  that  Camelot  should  be  left  alone  and  for- 
gotten, like  this,  the  city  and  the  fortress  of  the 
rabbits,  but  still  high  and  open  and  fresh  and 
free,  than  that  it  should  be  a  poor  little  town,  full 
of  poor  little  people,  like  Camelford.  Helen  said 
that  she  thought  so  too,  when  I  asked  her,  and 
she  was  willing  that  this  should  be  Camelot,  if 
I  thought  that  it  really  was. 

"  Really  and  truly  and  honestly,  "  I  said,  "  I 
think  that  this  is  as  likely  to  have  been  Came- 
lot as  any  place  that  we  have  seen  or  shall  see. 
It  is  lucky  for  us  that  we  know  more  about  it 
than  the  people  who  live  about  here  do.  If  we 
did  not  I  am  afraid  it  would  not  interest  us 
much.  I  think  that  I  have  read  somewhere 
that  the  King  and  his  knights  were  still  here  on 
the  hilltop,  kept  here  and  made  invisible  by 
some  enchantment,  that  at  certain  times  they 
could  be  seen,  and  that  some  people  had  really 
seen  them.  I  don't  believe  this  story,  but  while 
we  are  here  let  us  believe  at  least,  with  all  our 
might,  that  we  are  really  and  truly  in  Camelot. 

"  Now  here  is  a  story,  with  Camelot  in  it, 
that  you  ought  to  hear.  You  must  not  mind 
if  it  makes  you  think  of  a  story  that  we  saw 
once  in  the  fire.  There  are  different  ways  of 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  53 

telling  the  same  story,  you  know,  and  this  is  a 
different  way  of  telling  that  same  story. 

"  Once,  when  Arthur  was  first  King  of  Eng- 
land, he  had  a  good  knight  called  Sir  Perci- 
vale.  He  was  killed  in  a  tournament  by  a 
knight  whom  no  one  knew.  Some  who  saw  the 
fight  said  that  it  was  not  a  fair  one  and  that 
Sir  Percivale  was  as  good  as  murdered.  The 
knight  who  killed  him  wore  red  armor,  and 
once,  when  his  visor  was  up,  Arthur  saw  his 
face.  No  one  knew  where  the  knight  went 
afterward  and  Arthur  could  never  find  him  to 
make  him  answer  for  the  death  of  Sir  Perci- 
vale. 

"  Now  this  Sir  Percivale  had  seven  sons  and 
a  daughter,  and  six  of  his  sons  were  killed  also, 
in  tournaments  or  battles.  But  the  youngest 
of  the  sons  was  not  old  enough  yet  to  be  a 
knight,  and  when  his  mother  had  lost  her  hus- 
band and  all  her  sons  but  him,  she  resolved  that 
he  should  never  be  a  knight.  His  name  was 
Percivale,  like  his  father's.  It  was  right,  she 
thought,  for  her  to  keep  this  last  son  that  she 
had  safe  and  not  to  let  him  fight  and  be  killed, 
as  his  father  and  his  brothers  had  been.  And 
she  feared  so  much  that  when  he  grew  up  he 
would  want  to  be  a  knight,  like  the  others,  that 
she  resolved  that  he  should  never  know  any- 
thing about  knights  or  tournaments  or  wars  or 
arms. 


54     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  She  took  him  far  away  from  the  place 
where  they  had  lived,  and  made  a  home  in  the 
woods.  It  was  far  from  the  towns  and  the 
tournaments  and  the  courts,  and  it  was  even 
away  from  the  roads  that  led  through  the 
country.  It  was  a  lonely  place  that  the  mother 
chose,  and  she  hoped  that  no  one  would  ever 
come  to  it  from  the  world  that  she  had  left. 
She  brought  her  daughter  with  her,  I  suppose, 
though  the  story  says  nothing  about  her  just 
here,  and  she  brought  nobody  else  but  servants 
— women  and  boys  and  old  men.  Nobody  in 
her  house  was  ever  allowed  to  speak  of  knights 
or  arms  or  battles  or  anything  that  had  to  do 
with  them.  She  would  not  even  have  any  big, 
strong  horses  kept  about  the  place,  because 
they  reminded  her  of  the  war  horses  that 
knights  rode.  She  tried  to  bring  up  her  boy 
so  that  he  should  know  only  of  peaceful  things. 
He  should  know  the  trees  and  the  flowers  of 
the  woods,  she  thought;  he  should  know  the 
goats  and  the  sheep  and  the  cows  that  they 
kept,  how  the  fruits  grew  in  the  orchard,  how 
the  birds  lived  in  the  trees  and  the  bees  in  their 
hive ;  but  he  should  never  know  the  cruel 
ways  of  men  out  in  the  world.  He  should  see 
the  axe  of  the  woodman,  not  the  battle-axe  ; 
the  scythe,  not  the  sword  ;  the  crook  of  the 
shepherd,  not  the  spear. 

"  So  the  boy  grew  up  in  the  forest  and  ran 


The   Boy  front  the  Forest  55 

about  wherever  he  would  and  climbed  the  trees 
and  followed  the  squirrels  and  studied  the 
nests  of  the  birds  and  knew  all  the  plants  that 
grew  and  all  the  animals  that  lived  about  him. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  many  things  that  his 
mother  taught  him  he  would  have  been  almost 
like  one  of  the  animals  of  the  wood  himself. 
He  could  run  almost  as  fast  as  the  deer  and  he 
could  climb  almost  as  well  as  the  squirrel,  and 
he  could  sing  as  well  as  some  of  the  birds. 

"  When  he  grew  a  little  older  his  mother  let 
him  have  a  bow  and  arrows  to  play  with 
and  shoot  at  marks,  but  nobody  told  him  that 
men  used  bows  and  arrows  to  shoot  at  one  an- 
other or  that  men  ever  wanted  to  harm  one  an- 
other. But  he  began  to  shoot  at  the  birds  with 
his  arrows,  and  at  last  he  hit  one  of  them  and 
killed  it.  Then  he  looked  at  the  dead  bird 
lying  at  his  feet  and  he  heard  the  other  birds 
singing  all  around  him.  And  he  thought :  '  I 
have  done  a  dreadful  thing  ;  a  little  while  ago 
this  bird  was  singing  too,  and  was  as  happy  as 
the  rest  of  them,  and  now  it  can  never  sing  any 
more  or  be  happy  any  more,  because  I  have 
killed  it. '  And  he  broke  his  bow  and  threw  it 
away  and  he  threw  himself  down  on  the  ground 
beside  the  little  dead  bird  and  cried  at  what  he 
had  done.  And  when  his  mother  saw  how 
grieved  he  was  she  said  that  all  the  birds 
should  be  driven  away,  so  that  they  should  not 


56     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

trouble  him.  But  Percivale  begged  her  to  let 
them  stay.  He  liked  to  hear  them  sing,  and  to 
drive  them  off  would  be  a  crueler  thing  than 
he  had  done  already.  And  his  mother  thought: 
'  The  boy  is  right ;  I  brought  him  here  to  find 
peace  and  safety  for  both  of  us,  and  why 
should  I  not  let  the  poor  birds  stay  in  peace 
and  safety  too  ? ' 

"But  it  was  foolish  for  the  poor  woman  to 
think  that  she  could  keep  her  boy  so  that  he 
would  never  know  anything  of  the  world.  The 
world  was  all  around  him,  no  matter  how  far 
off,  and  it  was  sure  some  time  to  come  where 
he  was.  And  so,  one  day,  as  he  was  wandering 
in  the  wood,  he  saw  three  horses  coming,  lar- 
ger and  stronger  and  finer  than  any  horses  he 
had  ever  seen  before.  And  on  their  backs,  he 
thought,  were  three  men,  but  he  could  not  feel 
sure,  for  they  did  not  look  like  any  men  whom 
he  had  ever  seen.  They  seemed  to  be  all  cov- 
ered with  iron,  which  was  polished  so  that  it 
glistened  where  the  light  touched  it,  and  they 
wore  many  gay  and  beautiful  colors  besides. 
He  stood  and  looked  at  them  till  they  came 
close  to  him,  and  then  one  of  them  said :  '  My 
boy,  have  you  seen  a  knight  pass  this  way  ?  ' 

"  '  I  do  not  know  what  a  knight  is, '  Percivale 
answered. 

" '  We  are  knights, '  the  man  on  the  horse 
said  ;  '  have  you  seen  anyone  like  us  ? ' 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  57 

"But  Percivale  was  wondering  so  much  at 
what  he  saw  that  he  could  not  answer.  '  What 
is  this?'  he  asked,  touching  the  knight's  shield. 

"'That?'  the  knight  answered,  'that  is  my 
shield.' 

"'And  what  is  it  for?' 

" '  To  keep  other  knights  from  hitting  me 
with  their  spears  or  their  swords.' 

"  '  Spears  ?     What  are  they  ? ' 

" '  This  is  a  spear, '  the  knight  answered, 
showing  him  one. 

"  'And  what  is  this?' 

"  '  That  is  a  saddle.' 

"'And  what  is  this  ?' 

"  '  A  sword.' 

"  And  so  Percivale  asked  the  knights  about 
everything  that  they  wore  and  everything 
that  they  carried  and  all  that  was  on  their 
horses.  '  And  where  did  you  get  these  things  ? ' 
he  asked.  '  Did  you  always  wear  them  ? ' 

" '  No,'  the  knight  answered  ;  '  King  Arthur 
gave  me  these  arms  when  he  made  me  a  knight.' 

" '  Then  you  were  not  always  a  knight?'  Per- 
civale asked  again. 

"  '  Why,  no,  I  was  a  squire,  a  young  man,  like 
you,  and  King  Arthur  made  me  a  knight  and 
gave  me  these  arms.' 

"  '  Who  is  King  Arthur,  and  where  is  he  ? ' 

"  '  He  is  the  King  of  the  country,  and  he  lives 
at  Camelot.' 


58     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  Then  Percivale  ran  home  as  fast  as  he  could 
and  said  to  his  mother:  'Mother,  I  saw  some 
knights  in  the  forest,  and  one  of  them  told  me 
that  he  was  not  a  knight  always,  but  King  Ar- 
thur made  him  one,  and  before  that  he  was  a 
young  man  like  me.  And  now  I  want  to  go  to 
King  Arthur,  too,  and  ask  him  to  make  me  a 
knight,  so  that  I  can  wear  bright  iron  things 
like  them  and  ride  on  a  big  horse.' 

"The  instant  that  she  heard  the  word 
'  knights '  the  mother  knew  that  all  her  care 
was  lost.  The  boy  was  a  man  now.  He  had 
seen  what  other  men  were  like  and  she  knew 
that  he  would  never  be  happy  again  till  he  was 
like  the  rest  of  them.  Before  her  mind,  all  at 
once,  everything  came  back — the  court,  the 
field  of  the  tournament,  the  men  all  dressed  in 
steel,  with  their  sharp,  cruel  spears,  the  gleam- 
ing lines  charging  against  each  other,  the 
knights  falling  from  their  horses  and  rolling  on 
the  ground.  Her  brain  whirled  around  as  she 
thought  of  all  this,  and  her  one  last  son  in  the 
midst  of  it,  to  be  killed,  perhaps,  as  the  rest  had 
been.  But  she  knew  that  he  must  go — that  he 
would  go — nothing  could  keep  him  with  her 
now. 

"  '  My  son,'  she  said,  '  if  you  will  leave  me 
and  be  a  knight,  like  those  that  you  have  seen, 
go  to  King  Arthur.  His  are  the  best  of  knights 
and  among  them  you  will  learn  all  that  you 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  59 

ought  to  know.  Before  you  are  a  knight  the 
King  will  make  you  swear  that  you  will  be 
always  loyal  and  upright,  that  you  will  be  faith- 
ful, gentle,  and  merciful,  and  that  you  will  fight 
for  the  right  of  the  poor  and  the  weak.  Perci- 
vale,  some  knights  forget  these  things,  after 
they  have  sworn  them,  but  you  will  not  forget. 
Remember  them  the  more  because  I  tell  them 
to  you  now.  Be  ready  always  to  help  those 
who  need  help  most,  the  poor  and  the  weak 
and  the  old  and  children  and  women.  Keep 
yourself  in  the  company  of  wise  men  and  talk 
with  them  and  learn  of  them.  Percivale,  the 
King  will  make  you  swear,  too,  that  you  will 
fear  shame  more  than  death.  And  I  tell  you 
that.  I  have  lost  your  father  and  your  brothers, 
but  I  would  rather  lose  you,  too,  than  not  to 
know  that  you  feared  shame  more  than  death.' 
"  Then,  from  the  horses  that  his  mother  had, 
Percivale  chose  the  one  he  thought  the  best. 
It  was  not  a  war  horse,  of  course,  and  it  was 
not  even  a  good  saddle  horse,  but  it  would 
carry  him.  He  put  some  old  pieces  of  cloth  on 
the  horse's  back,  for  a  saddle,  and  with  more  of 
these,  and  bits  of  cord  and  woven  twigs  he  tried 
to  make  something  to  look  like  the  trappings 
that  he  had  seen  on  the  horses  of  the  knights. 
Then  he  found  a  long  pole  and  sharpened  the 
end  of  it,  to  make  it  look  like  a  spear.  When 
he  had  done  all  that  he  could  he  got  on  the 


60     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

back  of  the  horse,  bade  his  mother  good-by,  and 
rode  away  to  find  the  court  of  King  Arthur. 

"  The  King  and  the  Queen  and  their  knights 
were  in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle  at  Camelot, 
when  a  strange  knight,  dressed  in  red  armor, 
came  in  and  walked  straight  to  where  the  King 
and  the  Queen  sat.  A  page  was  just  offering 
to  the  Queen  a  gold  goblet  of  wine.  The  red 
knight  seized  the  goblet  and  threw  the  wine  in 
the  Queen's  face.  Then  he  said  :  '  If  there  is 
any  one  here  who  is  bold  enough  to  avenge  this 
insult  to  the  Queen  and  to  bring  back  this  gob- 
let, let  him  follow  me  and  I  will  wait  for  him  in 
the  meadow  near  the  castle  ! '  Then  he  left  the 
hall,  took  his  horse,  which  he  had  left  at  the 
door,  and  went  to  the  meadow. 

"  In  the  hall  all  the  knights  jumped  from  their 
places.  But  for  an  instant  they  only  stood  and 
stared  at  one  another.  They  remembered  the 
Green  Knight,  and  they  thought  that  this  other 
knight  would  never  dare  to  do  what  he  had 
done,  unless  he  had  some  magic  to  guard  him 
against  them.  I  am  sure  that  in  a  moment  some 
one  of  them  would  have  gone  after  him,  but  just 
in  that  moment  a  strange-looking  young  man 
rode  straight  into  the  hall,  on  a  poor,  old, 
boney  horse.  He  looked  so  queer,  with  his  sim- 
ple dress  and  the  saddle  and  trappings  that  he 
had  made  himself,  and  his  rough  pole  for  a 
spear,  that  the  knights  almost  forgot  the  insult 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  61 

to  the  Queen  in  looking  at  him,  and  some  of 
them  laughed  as  they  saw  him  ride  through  the 
hall  toward  the  King,  with  no  more  thought  of 
fear  than  if  he  had  been  a  king  himself.  He 
came  to  where  Kay,  King  Arthur's  seneschal, 
stood,  and  said  to  him  :  '  Tall  man,  is  that  King 
Arthur  who  sits  there?' 

"'  What  do  you  want  with  King  Arthur?' 
said  Kay. 

" '  My  mother  told  me,'  the  young  man  an- 
swered,  '  to  come  to  King  Arthur  and  be  made 
a  knight  by  him.' 

"  '  You  are  not  fit  to  be  a  knight,'  said  Kay  ; 
'  go  back  to  your  cows  and  your  goats.'  Kay 
was  a  rough  sort  of  fellow  and  he  was  always 
saying  unpleasant  things  without  waiting  to  find 
out  what  he  was  talking  about. 

"  Then  a  dwarf  came  close  to  the  boy  and 
cried  out :  '  Percivale,  you  are  welcome  here  ! 
I  know  that  you  will  be  one  of  the  best  of 
knights,  for  I  knew  your  father  and  your 
brothers,  and  they  were  all  good  knights  ! ' 

"  And  Kay  was  so  angry  with  the  dwarf  for 
speaking  in  this  way  that  he  struck  him  and 
knocked  him  down.  Now  when  Arthur  had 
seen  the  red  knight  come  into  the  hall  and  in- 
sult the  Queen  and  then  go  away  again,  he  had 
been  as  much  astonished  as  any  of  the  knights, 
and  he  had  thought,  just  as  they  had,  that  he 
must  have  some  charm  to  protect  him.  But 


62     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

he  had  had  another  thought, and  it  was:  'Where 
have  I  seen  the  face  of  that  knight  before  ? ' 
And  when  the  young  man  had  come  into  the 
hall  he  had  thought  again:  '  I  have  seen  that 
face,  too,  before.'  But  when  he  heard  the 
dwarf  call  him  by  name  he  remembered  it  all. 
'  Young  man,'  he  said,  '  are  you  the  son  of  my 
old  knight,  Sir  Percivale  ?  1  know  that  you 
are,  because  you  are  so  much  like  him,  and  the 
man  who  killed  your  father  was  here  just  now 
and  insulted  the  Queen  and  all  of  us.' 

"'Yes,  yes,'  Kay  shouted,  'go  after  him, 
boy,  and  avenge  your  father  and  avenge  the 
Queen  and  bring  back  her  golden  goblet !  And 
when  you  have  killed  him  you  can  have  his 
horse  and  his  armor,  and  then  you  will  look  fit 
to  be  made  a  knight.' 

"  '  I  will  do  what  you  say, '  the  boy  answered, 
and  he  turned  his  horse  and  rode  out  of  the 
hall  again.  When  he  came  to  the  meadow  the 
red  knight  was  there,  riding  up  and  down. 
'  Boy, '  he  said,  '  do  you  know  if  anyone  is  com- 
ing from  the  hall  to  take  this  gold  cup  from 
me?' 

"  '  I  have  come  from  the  hall, '  Percivale  an- 
swered, '  to  take  that  gold  cup  from  you. ' 

" '  Go  back  and  tell  the  King, '  said  the  red 
knight,  '  to  send  a  man,  a  knight,  to  take  it. 
And  tell  him  that  I  will  not  wait  much 
longer. ' 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  63 

"  '  I  mean  to  take  it  from  you  myself, '  said 
Percivale  again,  '  so  be  ready  for  me. ' 

"  Then  Percivale  made  his  poor  old  horse  go 
as  fast  as  it  could,  and  he  came  against  the  red 
knight  with  his  pointed  pole.  The  knight  tried 
to  strike  the  pole  aside  with  his  spear,  but  Per- 
civale hit  him  fairly  with  it  and  knocked  him 
off  his  horse.  And  in  falling  he  managed  some- 
how to  break  his  neck. 

"  All  that  had  passed  in  the  hall  since  the  red 
knight  had  appeared  there  had  passed  so 
quickly  that  the  King  and  the  knights  had 
scarcely  had  time  to  know  what  was  going  on 
at  all  till  it  was  all  over.  But  when  Percivale 
had  gone  to  find  the  red  knight,  Uwain,  King 
Arthur's  nephew,  said  :  '  Kay,  it  was  not  right 
for  you  to  send  such  a  boy  as  that  after  a 
knight  who  is  no  doubt  a  hard  fighter.  The 
knight  will  kill  him,  and  then  a  double  disgrace 
will  fall  upon  the  court,  that  of  letting  the  boy 
be  killed  and  that  of  sending  no  good  man  to 
avenge  the  insult  to  the  Queen.  Now  I  will 
go  and  see  if  I  am  in  time  to  save  the  boy  and 
punish  the  knight.  ' 

"  So  Uwain  went  to  the  meadow  and  there 
he  found  Percivale  trying  to  take  off  the  dead 
knight's  armor.  He  could  not  do  it,  because 
he  knew  nothing  about  armor  and  did  not 
know  how  it  was  fastened.  So  Uwain  showed 
him  how  to  take  it  off  and  then  how  to  dress 


64     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

himself  in  it.  '  And  now, '  said  Uwain.  '  come 
to  King  Arthur  and  I  know  that  he  will  gladly 
make  you  a  knight,  for  you  have  shown  that 
you  are  worthy  to  be  one.' 

" '  No,  '  said  Percivale,  '  I  will  not  go  back 
now.  But  tell  me,  what  is  the  name  of  the  tall 
man  who  told  me  to  follow  this  knight? ' 

"  '  He  is  Sir  Kay, '  Uwain  answered,  '  King 
Arthur's  seneschal. ' 

"  Then  Percivale  said :  *  Take  this  gold  cup 
back  to  the  Queen  and  tell  her  that  I  have 
avenged  the  insult  to  her.  Tell  King  Arthur 
that  wherever  I  go  I  will  be  his  servant  and 
will  try  to  do  him  what  honor  I  can,  but  tell 
Sir  Kay  that  I  will  never  come  back  to  King 
Arthur's  court  till  1  have  met  him  and  punished 
him  for  striking  the  dwarf  who  greeted  me  when 
I  came  into  the  hall.  My  mother  told  me  to 
fight  for  the  poor  and  the  weak,  and  I  am  sure 
that  dwarf  is  weak  and  I  ought  to  fight  for  him. ' 

"  When  Uwain  went  back  to  the  hall  with 
these  messages  Kay  laughed,  but  I  am  not  sure 
that  he  felt  quite  comfortable.  He  had  had  bad 
luck  before  in  making  fun  of  young  men  who 
turned  out  well  in  spite  of  their  simple  looks. 
Perhaps  you  may  like  to  know  how  the  dwarf 
knew  who  Percivale  was.  It  was  very  simple. 
He  used  to  live  in  Percivale's  father's  house, 
and  he  knew  him  because  he  was  so  much  like 
his  father. 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  65 

"And  Percivale  was  riding  away  from  the 
court  and  did  not  know  or  care  where  he  was 
going.  But  after  awhile  he  met  a  knight  who 
asked  him  whence  he  came.  '  I  come  from  the 
court  of  King  Arthur, '  he  answered. 

"And  the  knight  said:  '  I  am  the  enemy  of 
King  Arthur  and  of  all  his  men,  and  when  I 
meet  any  of  them  I  kill  them,  if  I  can,  and  so  I 
will  kill  you  now,  if  I  can. ' 

"So  they  took  their  places  and  charged 
against  each  other  with  their  spears.  Perci- 
vale had  a  real  spear  now.  And  Percivale 
threw  the  knight  off  his  horse  and  he  begged 
for  mercy.  '  You  shall  have  mercy, '  Percivale 
said, '  if  you  will  go  to  the  court  of  King  Arthur 
and  tell  him  that  Percivale  sent  you  and  that 
Percivale  will  never  come  to  his  court  again  till 
he  has  punished  Sir  Kay  for  striking  the  dwarf. ' 

"  The  knight  did  as  Percivale  bade  him,  and 
the  story  says  that  within  a  week  he  overcame 
sixteen  knights  and  made  every  one  of  them  go 
to  the  court  and  tell  King  Arthur  that  Perci- 
vale had  sent  him  and  that  Percivale  would 
never  come  back  till  he  had  met  Sir  Kay  and 
punished  him  for  striking  the  dwarf.  Now  you 
can  imagine  that,  when  these  knights  came  into 
the  hall,  two  or  three  of  them  a  day,  and 
brought  always  this  same  message,  Kay  kept 
getting  more  and  more  uncomfortable.  Every 
new  one  who  came  proved  over  again  what  a 


66     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

tough  fighter  Percivale  was  and  every  one  of 
them  told  the  King  and  the  court  that  Perci- 
vale was  waiting  for  a  chance  to  fight  with 
Kay.  And  then  the  other  knights  began  to 
blame  Kay  for  making  such  a  fine  young  man 
leave  the  court.  For  it  was  clear,  they  said,  that 
he  would  some  time  be  one  of  the  best  knights 
among  them  all.  At  last  King  Arthur  said 
that  he  himself,  with  some  of  his  best  knights, 
would  go  to  search  for  Percivale.  And  Kay, 
who  was  really  no  coward,  went  with  them. 

"  And  Percivale  kept  on  his  way.  And  one 
evening,  when  it  was  time  for  him  to  find  a 
place  to  stay  for  the  night,  he  saw  a  great  castle 
before  him.  He  knocked  on  the  gate  and  a 
young  man  with  a  thin,  pale  face  put  his  head 
through  an  opening  in  the  battlement  and 
looked  at  him.  Then  the  young  man  came  and 
opened  the  gate  for  Percivale  and  led  him  to  the 
hall.  There  were  eighteen  young  men  there, 
all  thin  and  with  pale  faces,  like  the  first.  They 
took  off  Percivale's  armor  and  they  all  sat  down 
together.  Then  five  young  women  came  into 
the  hall,  and  Percivale  thought  that  one  of  them, 
who  was  the  lady  of  the  castle,  was  the  most 
beautiful  he  had  ever  seen.  Mind,  I  don't  say 
that  I  think  so  ;  I  say  that  Percivale  thought 
so.  For,  as  one  of  the  beautiful,  wonderful 
books  that  tells  this  story  says,  '  whiter  was  her 
skin  than  the  bloom  of  crystal,  and  her  hair  and 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  67 

her  two  eyebrows  were  blacker  than  jet,  and 
on  her  cheeks  were  two  red  spots,  redder  than 
whatever  is  reddest.'  She  was  dressed  in  satin, 
but  it  was  old  and  faded  and  worn. 

"  Afterwards  two  nuns  came  into  the  hall. 
One  of  them  carried  a  flask  of  wine  and  the 
other  had  six  loaves  of  bread.  '  Lady,'  said  one 
of  the  nuns,  '  there  is  not  so  much  bread  and 
wine  left  in  our  convent  as  we  have  brought 
you  here.  Then  they  all  sat  at  a  table,  and  Per- 
civale  saw  that  the  lady  of  the  castle  was  giving 
more  of  the  bread  and  the  wine  to  him  than 
to  any  of  the  others.  So  he  took  all  the  bread 
and  wine  and  divided  them  equally  among  all 
who  were  at  the  table.  And  when  it  was  time 
they  led  Percivale  to  his  chamber. 

"  And  the  rest  still  sat  in  the  hall.  Then  one 
of  the  young  men  said  to  the  lady  of  the  castle  : 
'  Sister,  go  to  this  young  man  and  tell  him  that 
you  will  be  his  wife,  if  he  will  rescue  you  and 
the  rest  of  us  from  our  enemies.' 

"  '  I  cannot  do  that,'  she  answered.  '  He  may 
not  want  me  for  his  wife  ;  if  he  did  he  would 
ask  me.' 

"  '  Sister,'  said  the  young  man  again,  '  we 
have  no  more  food  and  we  cannot  hold  the  cas- 
tle any  longer.  This  is  the  only  hope  we  have. 
You  must  do  this  or  we  will  leave  you,  and 
your  enemies  may  do  what  they  like  with  you 
and  your  castle.' 


68     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

"  So  she  left  them  and  went  to  the  door  of 
Percivale's  chamber  and  opened  it.  It  was 
dark  and  he  was  asleep,  but  he  heard  her  weep- 
ing and  awoke.  '  Who  are  you,'  he  asked,  'and 
why  are  you  weeping  ?  Can  I  help  you  ? ' 

" '  My  lord,'  she  answered, '  if  you  do  not  help 
me  nothing  can  ever  help  me.  I  am  the  lady 
of  the  castle.  My  father  owned  this  castle  and 
all  the  lands  around  it.  There  was  a  wicked 
knight,  named  Sir  Mordred,  who  wanted  me  to 
be  his  wife,  but  I  would  not,  and  so,  after  my 
father  died  and  left  me  the  castle  and  the  lands, 
Sir  Mordred  made  war  upon  me.  I  had  not 
men  enough  to  fight  with  him,  and  so  he  has 
taken  everything  I  had  except  this  castle.  But 
this  castle  is  so  strong  that  the  few  men  whom 
you  have  seen  were  able  to  hold  it  as  long  as  we 
had  food.  They  are  my  foster  brothers.  Mor- 
dred and  his  men  always  watch  the  castle  to 
see  that  no  one  goes  out  from  it  to  bring  food, 
and  so  at  last  all  that  we  had  was  gone.  Then 
the  nuns,  who  are  permitted  to  go  wherever 
they  like,  brought  us  food,  but  now  they  have 
no  more.  And  Mordred  watches  us  so  closely 
that  he  will  know  that  we  have  no  more  food, 
and  he  will  come  against  us  at  once  and  take  the 
castle,  unless  you  can  help  us.  So  the  young 
men  told  me  that  I  must  come  to  you  and  tell 
you  that  I  would  be  your  wife  if  you  would 
save  us,  for  there  was  no  other  way.  Forgive 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  69 

me,  Sir  Knight,  for  doing  what  I  must  do,  and 
help  me  and  my  brothers,  if  you  can.' 

"  Then  Percivale  answered  :  '  I  know  that  you 
do  not  say  this  because  you  want  to  be  my  wife, 
and  so  I  will  not  ask  it  of  you.  Marry  whom- 
ever you  will.  To-morrow,  if  this  Sir  Mordred 
comes,  I  will  do  my  best  to  help  you.' 

"And  so  we  have  come  to  Mordred.  I  am 
almost  sorry  that  I  have  to  tell  you  about  him, 
but  I  should  have  to  tell  you,  some  time,  and  it 
may  as  well  be  now.  Mordred  was  the  brother 
of  Gawain,  and  so  he  was  King  Arthur's 
nephew.  He  was  a  knight  of  the  Round  Ta- 
ble, and  he  was  the  wickedest  and  most  treach- 
erous man  who  was  ever  in  Arthur's  court. 
When  people  tell  you  that  they  do  not  like 
King  Arthur  because  he  was  too  good — and 
somebody  is  sure  to  tell  you  that  some  time — 
ask  them  what  they  think  of  his  letting  such 
a  creature  as  Mordred  be  a  knight  of  his 
Round  Table.  Still,  I  suppose  Arthur  did  not 
know  how  bad  Mordred  was.  Good  people  are 
often  slow  to  believe  that  there  are  any  bad 
people,  and  Arthur  was  so. 

"  Well,  in  the  morning,  surely  enough,  there 
were  Mordred's  men  all  around  the  castle. 
There  were  tents  set  up  and  knights  were  rid- 
ing up  and  down  on  horses,  and  banners  were 
flying,  and  it  all  looked  as  if  they  had  come 
to  fight  against  a  city,  instead  of  against  five 


70     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

women  and  eighteen  starved  young  men. 
Breakfast  did  not  take  long  that  morning,  be- 
cause there  was  nothing  in  the  castle  to  eat. 
So,  as  soon  as  he  was  up,  Percivale  put  on  his 
armor  and  called  for  his  horse  and  rode  out 
of  the  castle.  He  came  near  to  some  of  the 
knights  who  were  riding  about  and  seemed  to 
be  so  ready  to  fight,  and  called  out  that  he 
wanted  to  see  Sir  Mordred  and  to  talk  with 
him. 

"  When  Sir  Mordred  came,  Percivale  said  to 
him :  '  I  challenge  you  alone,  Sir  Mordred,  to 
fight  with  me  alone  for  the  right  of  the  lady  of 
this  castle.  If  you  beat  me  you  shall  keep  all 
that  you  have  taken  from  her  and  you  shall 
have  the  castle  too.  If  I  beat  you  she  shall 
keep  the  castle  and  you  shall  give  her  back 
all  that  she  had  before.  Do  you  agree  to 
this?' 

"  And  Mordred  said  :  '  I  agree.' 

"  It  was  a  short  battle.  They  charged  against 
other  once,  and  Mordred's  spear  was  bro- 
ken against  Percivale's  shield,  but  Percivale's 
spear  went  through  Mordred's  shield  and 
through  his  shoulder.  Mordred  could  not  fight 
any  more  after  that,  so  he  promised  to  give 
back  to  the  lady  of  the  castle  all  the  lands  and 
everything  else  that  he  had  taken  from  her,  if 
Percivale  would  not  kill  him.  Percivale  made 
him  promise,  too,  that  his  men  should  take  to 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  7 1 

the  castle  that  very  day  enough  food  and  drink 
for  a  hundred  men  and  their  horses.  Then  he 
sent  Mordred  himself  to  Camelot,  to  say  to  the 
King  and  the  court  that  Percivale  would  never 
come  back  there  till  he  had  punished  Sir  Kay 
for  striking  the  dwarf.  But  when  Mordred 
got  to  Camelot  the  King  and  Kay  and  a  good 
many  of  the  other  knights  had  gone  to  hunt 
for  Percivale,  and  there  were  not  many  left  to 
hear  the  message. 

"  Then  Percivale  took  his  leave  of  the  people 
of  the  castle  and  rode  on  his  way.  He  rode 
all  day,  and  in  the  evening  he  came  to  the  cell 
of  a  hermit,  who  made  him  welcome,  and  he 
stayed  with  him  all  night.  In  the  morning  he 
left  the  cell  to  go  on  his  way,  but  Justin  front 
of  the  door  he  saw  something  that  made  him 
stop  to  look  at  it.  There  had  been  a  fall  of  snow 
in  the  night,  and  a  little  way  from  the  hermit's 
cell  a  hawk  had  killed  a  wild  fowl  and  the  snow 
was  stained  with  its  blood.  Something  had 
frightened  the  hawk  away  and  now  a  raven  had 
lighted  on  the  snow  near  the  wild  fowl.  It  was 
this  that  made  Percivale  stop  to  look,  for  the 
blackness  of  the  raven  and  the  whiteness  of 
the  snow  and  the  red  of  the  blood  made  him 
think  of  the  black  hair  of  the  lady  of  the  castle 
where  he  had  stayed,  and  of  her  white  skin,  and 
of  the  red  in  her  cheeks.  This  must  have 
been  a  pleasant  thought,  for  Percivale  stood 


72     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

there  thinking  it  and  gazing  at  the  blood  on 
the  snow  for  a  long  time. 

"  Now  it  happened  that  King  Arthur's  tent 
had  been  pitched  for  the  night  near  this  very 
place.  And  Arthur  came  out  of  his  tent  and  saw 
some  one  leaning  on  a  spear  and  looking  upon 
the  ground.  And  he  told  one  of  his  young  men 
to  go  and  see  who  it  was.  So  the  young  man 
rode  to  where  Percivale  stood  and  said :  '  Who 
are  you,  and  what  are  you  doing  here  ?  ' 

"  But  Percivale  was  thinking  so  much  of  the 
raven  and  the  snow  and  the  blood  and  the  lady 
of  the  castle  that  he  gave  no  answer,  and  then 
the  young  man  thrust  at  him  with  his  spear. 
Then  Percivale  turned  and  struck  the  young 
man  with  his  own  spear  and  knocked  him  off 
his  horse,  and  he  went  back  to  tell  the  King 
how  he  had  fared.  And  Kay  said :  '  I  will  go 
and  make  him  tell  me  who  he  is.' 

"So  Kay  came  and  said  and  did  very  much 
as  the  young  man  had  done,  and  Percivale 
knocked  him  off  his  horse  too,  and  in  the  fall 
he  broke  his  arm.  Kay's  horse  galloped  back 
alone  to  where  the  King  and  the  knights  were 
and  Kay  had  to  walk  back.  '  Now,  I  will  go,' 
said  Gawain.  '  It  is  likely,  Kay,  that  you  spoke 
to  him  rudely,  for  you  do  speak  rudely  some- 
times. The  knight  may  be  deep  in  some 
thoughts  in  which  he  does  not  like  to  be  dis- 
turbed, but  I  will  try  to  bring  him  back.' 


KAY'S   HORSE   GALLOPED  BACK   ALONE." 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  /  3 

"  It  used  to  be  said  that  Gawain  could  speak 
so  well  that  nobody  could  ever  refuse  him  any- 
thing that  he  asked.  He  went  to  Percivale  and 
stood  still  beside  him  for  a  moment  and  then  said 
to  him  :  '  If  I  thought  that  it  would  be  pleasant 
to  you  to  hear  it,  I  would  give  you  a  message 
from  King  Arthur.  He  wishes  that  you  would 
come  to  his  tent.  Two  others  have  come  here 
before  me  to  speak  to  you.' 

" '  Yes,'  said  Percivale,  '  and  they  spoke  to 
me  rudely  and  attacked  me.  And  it  annoyed 
me,  because  I  was  looking  at  the  snow  and  the 
raven  and  the  blood,  and  I  was  thinking  of  the 
face  and  the  hair  and  the  cheeks  of  the  lady 
whom  I  fought  for  yesterday.  But  tell  me,  is 
Sir  Kay  with  King  Arthur?' 

" '  Yes,'  said  Gawain,  '  and  he  was  the  second 
of  the  men  who  came  to  speak  to  you,  and  the 
fall  from  his  horse  that  you  gave  him  broke  his 
arm.' 

" '  Ah,  then  I  am  glad,'  said  Percivale,  '  for 
now  I  have  punished  him  for  striking  the 
dwarf.' 

" '  For  striking  the  dwarf? '  Gawain  repeated, 
'  then  you  are  Percivale  !  This  is  good  news  ! 
Come  back  with  me  to  the  King,  for  he  and  all 
of  us  have  left  Camelot  to  seek  for  you.' 

"  '  Yes/  Percivale  answered,  '  I  can  come 
back  with  you  now,  for  I  have  met  Sir  Kay  and 
have  punished  him  for  striking  the  dwarf.' 


74     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  So  Gawain  led  Percivale  back  to  the  King, 
and  Arthur  and  his  knights  welcomed  him  as 
one  of  the  best  among  them  all.  Then  they  all 
went  back  to  Camelot  together,  and  as  soon  as 
they  were  there  King  Arthur  made  Percivale 
a  knight.  And  he  said  to  him,  when  he  had 
touched  his  shoulders  with  his  sword :  '  Rise, 
Sir  Percivale,  and  may  God  make  you  a  good 
knight.  I  know  that  He  will,  Sir  Percivale,  for 
no  young  man  who  has  ever  come  to  my  court 
has  done  so  soon  such  noble  things  as  you  have 
done.  For  before  you  were  a  knight  at  all  you 
fought  many  battles  for  right  and  justice,  and 
you  are  worthy  to  be  called  God's  own  knight. 
And  you  are  worthy,  too,  to  be  a  knight  of  the 
Round  Table.  Kneel  again,  Sir  Percivale,  and 
take  the  oath  of  the  Round  Table.' 

"  Then  Percivale  knelt  before  the  King  again 
and  the  King  said  to  him :  '  Do  you  swear  that 
you  will  help  the  King  to  guard  his  people  and 
to  keep  peace  and  justice  in  his  land ;  that  you 
will  be  faithful  to  your  fellows ;  that  you  will  do 
right  to  poor  and  rich  alike  ?  Do  you  swear 
that  in  all  things  you  will  be  true  and  loyal  to 
God  and  to  the  King?' 

"  And  Percivale  answered  :  '  I  swear  it.' 

"  The  King  took  Percivale's  hand  and  turned 
toward  the  Round  Table.  All  the  knights 
looked  eagerly  to  see  where  his  place  would  be, 
for  they  thought:  '  No  man  of  us  has  ever  done 


The   Boy  from  the  Forest  75 

such  deeds  as  his  while  he  was  still  so  young, 
and  who  knows  but  he  may  be  that  best  knight 
of  all  the  world,  who  is  to  sit  in  the  Siege 
Perilous  ? ' 

"  The  King  thought  of  that  too,  and  he  paused 
beside  the  Siege  Perilous,  to  see  if  there  were 
any  letters  in  it,  but  there  were  not.  But  in  the 
next  seat  to  it,  where  no  one  had  ever  sat  since 
Arthur  had  been  King,  he  saw  new  letters  of 
gold,  and  the  letters  said :  '  This  is  the  seat  of 
Percivale,  God's  knight.'  " 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   QUEEN'S  ROBING-ROOM 

WHEN  we  got  back  to  the  hotel  at  Glaston- 
bury  that  night  there  was  a  surprise  awaiting 
us.  Helen's  mother  had  a  letter  and  she  said  : 
"  We  are  going  to  London  by  the  first  train 
to-morrow  morning,  and  then  we  are  going 
straight  to  Paris." 

Now  you  must  know  that  before  we  started  on 
this  journey  Helen's  mother  had  said  that  she 
did  not  care  in  the  least  where  we  went,  except 
that  we  must  go  to  Paris.  So  it  was  agreed  be- 
tween us  that  she  should  be  allowed  to  go 
to  Paris  just  whenever  she  pleased  and  that 
I  should  arrange  everything  else  just  as  I 
pleased.  And  so,  when  she  said  that  we  were 
going  to  Paris  at  once,  she  made  exactly  the 
one  announcement  that  she  had  a  perfect  right 
to  make,  without  asking  me  anything  about 
it  at  all.  Still,  just  at  first,  I  was  not  at  all 
pleased. 

76 


The  Queen's  Robing-Room  77 

I  said  that  of  course  we  should  do  just  as  she 
liked  about  it,  still  we  had  thought  that  we 
were  to  have  plenty  of  time  in  Glastonbury,  and 
so  we  had  not  gone  to  see  the  ruins  of  the  ab- 
bey yet,  and  it  seemed  a  pity  to  have  to  leave 
Glastonbury  without  seeing  them.  Helen  knew 
nothing  about  the  ruins  of  the  abbey,  but  she 
agreed  with  me.  That  made  no  difference  to 
Helen's  mother.  She  had  a  letter  from  some- 
body whom  she  knew,  who  was  in  Paris.  That 
somebody  was  to  be  there  only  for  a  week,  and 
she  must  be  there  at  the  same  time.  We  really 
had  no  right  to  object,  and  so  I  gave  up  object- 
ing and  tried  to  think  of  the  best  way  out  of  it. 
"  Couldn't  we  come  back  here  again  after- 
wards ?  "  Helen  suggested. 

Now  the  notion  of  going  to  a  little  place  like 
Glastonbury,  so  far  off  the  usual  lines  of  travel, 
twice  in  the  same  journey,  is  one  that  would 
never  come  into  the  head  of  any  ordinary  trav- 
eller. But  Helen  is  not  an  ordinary  traveller. 
And  when  I  came  to  think  of  it  I  could  not  see 
the  slightest  reason  in  the  world  why  we  should 
not  come  back  to  Glastonbury  after  we  had 
been  to  Paris.  I  looked  at  Helen's  mother  and 
said  :  "  May  we?" 

"  You  know  very  well,"  she  said,  "  that  you 
can  go  and  come  wherever  you  like,  as  long  as 
you  let  me  go  to  Paris." 

Here  was  another  notion.     "  As  long  as  I  let 


78     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

you  go  to  Paris,"  I  repeated.  "  That  is  just 
what  I  will  do.  What  do  you  want  of  me  in 
Paris  ?  All  the  time  that  you  are  there  you 
women  will  be  running  about  the  city,  seeing 
things  that  I  don't  care  about  and  doing  things 
that  I  don't  care  about,  such  as  shopping,  and  I 
should  only  be  in  the  way.  You  would  get  on 
better  without  me,  and  so  why  should  I  go  to 
Paris  at  all  ?  I  will  go  to  London  with  you  to- 
morrow, and  then  I  will  wait  there  for  you  till 
you  come  back." 

Helen's  mother  liked  my  plan  so  much  that  I 
almost  felt  hurt.  "  I  don't  see,"  she  said,  "how 
you  could  be  of  the  least  use  in  Paris.  You 
will  have  a  much  better  time  in  London,  and  I 
shall  have  you  off  my  mind,  and  can  do  just 
what  I  like." 

This  almost  took  my  breath  away,  but,  as 
the  plan  was  my  own,  of  course  I  had  to 
pretend  that  I  liked  it.  I  said  that  there  were 
several  things  in  London  that  I  wanted  to 
see  again,  and  I  wanted  to  look  up  two  or 
three  places  not  far  from  London  that  had 
stories  about  them.  I  was  afraid  I  should 
not  have  time  to  go  to  them  if  I  went  to  Paris 
too.  When  I  said  that  Helen  began  to  take 
an  interest,  as  I  had  thought  that  perhaps  she 
might.  "  Are  there  more  stories  in  London  ?  " 
she  asked. 

"  If  you  and  I,"  I  said,  "  were  to  stay  in  Lon- 


The  Queens  Robing-Room  79 

don  and  find  a  story  every  day,  we  should  not 
live  long  enough  to  find  half  of  them." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Helen. 

"Now  do  you  think?"  I  said,  "when  you 
come  to  think  of  it  a  second  time,  that  you 
really  need  Helen  in  Paris  any  more  than  you 
do  me  ?  When  she  is  a  little  older  she  will 
want  to  go  there  just  as  much  as  you  do  now, 
and  then  she  can  go.  But  now,  don't  you  think 
that  you  should  like  to  have  her  off  your  mind 
as  well  as  me,  and  don't  you  think  that  she 
could  do  a  good  deal  toward  cheering  me  up 
there  in  London,  while  you  are  gone  ?  " 

Helen  looked  at  her  mother  to  see  what  she 
was  going  to  say.  She  said  nothing  at  all,  but 
she  looked  at  Helen  in  a  way  that  meant  that 
she  might  do  just  as  she  pleased  about  it,  and 
Helen  said :  "  If  you  don't  mind  very  much,  I 
think  I  will  stay  in  London." 

Helen's  mother  did  not  mind  very  much,  so 
I  said :  "  Very  well,  then  ;  this  is  what  we  will 
do.  We  will  go  all  the  way  to  Dover  with 
you,  and  then  we  will  come  back  to  London 
and  have  as  good  a  time  as  we  can,  till  you 
come  back  from  having  the  best  time  that  ever 
was  in  the  world,  in  Paris.  And  when  you  are 
with  us  again  we  will  come  back  here  to  Glas- 
tonbury  and  go  to  some  other  good  places." 

Nobody  could  make  the  least  objection  to 
that.  And  so  the  next  day  but  one  Helen  and 


8o     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

I  found  that  we  were  left  quite  to  ourselves  in 
London.  We  found  plenty  of  things  to  amuse 
us.  We  went  to  see  the  Tower  of  London,  as 
Americans  do.  We  found  the  old  armor  and 
weapons  that  were  there  most  interesting,  and 
Helen  made  a  discovery.  "  Did  King  Ar- 
thur's knights  wear  armors  like  those  ? "  she 
asked. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  about  like  those." 

"  With  all  those  chains  and  iron  things  ?  " 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure." 

"  Then  I  know  what  became  of  the  green 
lace  girdles  that  Gawain  and  the  rest  of  them 
had." 

"  Very  well ;  what  did  become  of  them  ?  " 

"  Why,  don't  you  see  ?  They  all  wore  out. 
They  wouldn't  last  a  week,  if  they  put  them 
round  their  waists,  with  all  those  iron  things 
on." 

There  was  really  no  need  of  any  better  ex- 
planation than  this,  and  so  I  gave  up  ever  find- 
ing any. 

"  There  is  one  curious  little  thing  about  this 
Tower,"  I  said,  "  that  is  not  in  most  of  the 
books  about  it.  It  was  here,  you  know,  long  be- 
fore King  Arthur's  time.  One  of  the  old  kings 
was  called  Bran  the  Blessed.  And  once  he  told 
his  men  that  when  he  was  dead  they  must  cut 
off  his  head  and  bury  it  under  the  White  Tower, 
in  London,  with  the  face  toward  France,  and 


The  Queens  Robing- Room  81 

that  as  long  as  it  stayed  there  England  could 
never  be  harmed  by  any  foe  from  abroad. 
Now  I  have  never  heard  of  any  White  Tower 
in  London,  except  this  big  square  one  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Tower  of  London,  so  that  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  was  here  that  the  head  of  Bran 
the  Blessed  was  buried,  with  the  face  toward 
France,  to  guard  England  from  her  foreign 
foes.  But  when  Arthur  came  to  be  King  he 
had  the  head  dug  up,  for  he  said  that  it  would 
be  better  for  England  to  be  guarded  by  the 
strength  and  the  courage  of  Englishmen  than 
by  magic.  You  can  look  around  you  at  the 
England  of  to-day  and  judge  for  yourself 
whether  Arthur  was  right." 

I  had  heard  that  there  were  pictures  of  some 
of  the  King  Arthur  stories  in  the  Queen's  rob- 
ing-room,  at  the  Palace  of  Westminster,  and  of 
course  we  wanted  to  see  them.  Now  anybody 
who  looks  moderately  respectable  can  walk 
through  the  Palace  of  Westminster  any  Satur- 
day. The  trouble  is  that  the  policemen  who 
are  posted  in  the  rooms  will  not  let  you  stay 
in  any  one  of  them  long  enough  to  do  more 
than  take  a  glance  at  it  and  pass  on  to  the 
next  room.  Of  course  this  would  not  do  for 
us,  when  there  were  pictures  of  King  Arthur 
to  be  looked  at.  But  we  were  very  lucky.  We 
knew  somebody  who  knew  somebody  who 
knew  somebody  else,  and  I  rather  think  that 


82     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

this  last  somebody  was  the  secretary  of  the 
Lord  Great  Chamberlain.  At  any  rate,  there 
were  some  letters  written  about  us,  and  we 
were  told  to  go  to  the  Palace  of  Westminster 
and  ask  for  the  inspector  of  police.  So  we  went 
there  when  Saturday  came  around  and  saw  the 
inspector  and  told  him  that  we  were  the  ones 
whom  the  letters  had  been  written  about.  He 
was  very  glad  to  see  us  and  he  introduced  us 
to  somebody  else.  Once  more  I  think  that 
it  was  the  secretary  of  the  Lord  Great  Cham- 
berlain, but  I  am  not  sure.  Whoever  he  was, 
he  was  most  polite,  and  when  we  told  him  what 
friends  of  King  Arthur's  we  were  he  ordered 
the  policemen  on  duty  to  let  us  stay  in  the 
Queen's  robing-room  as  long  as  we  liked. 

Having  all  the  time  we  wanted,  we  did  not 
hurry,  but  stood  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  win- 
dows, looking  out  across  the  Thames.  "  It  was 
somewhere  over  there,"  I  said,  "not  very  far  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  that  there  used  to 
•live  one  of  the  wickedest  knights  that  were  ever 
in  King  Arthur's  court.  His  name  was  Melia- 
graunce.  I  don't  know  what  made  him  so 
wicked,  but  I  suppose  he  was  so  to  start  with. 
It  occurred  to  him  once  that  there  could  be  no 
better  way  for  him  to  make  trouble  than  by 
stealing  the  Queen  and  carrying  her  off  to  his 
castle,  over  there  across  the  Thames.  King 
Arthur  was  holding  his  court  just  here  at  West- 


The  Queen  s  Robing- Room  83 

minster  then,  for  it  seems  that  there  was  a  pal- 
ace here  as  long  ago  as  that. 

"  Meliagraunce  had  to  watch  a  long  time  for 
his  chance,  for  there  were  usually  a  good  many 
people  about  the  Queen,  and  Lancelot  was 
likely  to  be  among  them,  and  somehow,  wicked 
as  he  was,  he  did  not  care  about  doing  any- 
thing to  harm  the  Queen  while  Lancelot  was 
with  her.  But  one  day  he  heard  that  the  Queen 
was  going  maying,  with  some  knights  and  la- 
dies, and  that  Lancelot  was  not  going.  That, 
he  thought,  would  be  just  his  chance.  Now, 
as  the  Queen  did  not  mean  to  go  far  from 
Westminster,  there  was  no  thought  of  any  dan- 
ger. So  the  knights  who  rode  with  her  wore 
swords  at  their  sides,  as  they  did  almost  every- 
where, but  they  carried  no  spears  or  shields, 
and  they  wore  no  armor.  There  were  only  ten 
of  them,  with  ten  ladies  and  a  few  squires  and 
pages.  But  Meliagraunce  got  ready  twenty 
knights,  fully  armed,  and  a  hundred  archers  on 
foot. 

"  Westminster  and  the  country  about  it  looked 
very  different  then  from  what  they  do  now. 
Now  there  is  nothing  but  city  for  miles  around, 
but  then  there  were  fields,  and  a  little  farther 
off  there  were  woods.  So  the  Queen  and  her 
knights  and  ladies  rode  to  the  woods  and  gath- 
ered flowers  and  green  branches,  and  decked 
themselves  and  their  horses  with  them  and 


84     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

started  back  toward  Westminster.  Then  Melia- 
graunce and  his  armed  men  fell  upon  them. 
The  Queen's  knights  fought  for  her  as  well  as 
they  could,  but  they  were  so  few  and  so  poorly 
armed  that  they  were  no  match  for  their  ene- 
mies. In  a  little  while  they  were  all  of  them 
wounded,  and  the  Queen  saw  that  they  would 
all  be  killed  if  the  fight  went  on.  So  she  called  to 
Meliagraunce  and  begged  him  to  stop  the  fight 
and  promised  that  she  would  go  with  him  to 
his  castle,  if  he  would  let  all  her  knights  go  too, 
for  they  were  wounded  and  she  must  have 
them  with  her,  so  that  she  could  take  care  of 
them. 

"  Meliagraunce  agreed  to  this  and  they  all 
set  off  toward  his  castle.  But  on  the  way  the 
Queen  whispered  to  a  page  who  was  on  a  swift 
horse,  and  told  him  to  ride  back  to  Westminster 
and  tell  Lancelot  that  she  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
castle  of  Meliagraunce.  So  the  page  watched 
till  nobody  was  looking,  and  then  turned  his 
horse  suddenly  and  rode  back.  Of  course  Melia- 
graunce and  his  men  saw  in  a  moment  what  he 
was  doing  and  what  it  was  for,  and  they  shot 
at  him  with  arrows,  but  they  missed  him  and 
he  was  soon  beyond  their  reach. 

"  Now  Meliagraunce  and  all  those  who  were 
with  him  had  to  go  slowly,  because  of  the 
wounded  knights,  but  the  page  who  went  to  tell 
Lancelot  rode  fast.  And  when  Lancelot  heard 


The  Queen  s  Robing-Room  85 

what  the  page  had  to  tell  he  rode  fast  too,  so 
that  he  came  to  the  castle  of  Meliagraunce  not 
long  after  the  others  arrived  there.  And  as  soon 
as  Meliagraunce  heard  that  Lancelot  had  come 
he  began  to  see  what  a  silly  thing  he  had  done 
and  to  wish  that  he  were  well  out  of  it.  So  he 
went  to  the  Queen  and  begged  her  not  to  let 
Lancelot  kill  him.  If  she  would  promise  that, 
he  said,  they  would  all  go  back  to  Westminster 
the  next  morning.  So  the  Queen  sent  for  Lance- 
lot and  told  him  that  it  would  be  better  to  do 
as  Meliagraunce  had  said,  for  Meliagraunce  was 
a  knight  of  King  Arthur's  and  it  would  be  better 
that  it  should  not  be  known  what  he  had  done, 
as  it  would  have  to  be  if  Lancelot  fought  with 
him  and  killed  him.  And  of  course  Lancelot 
said  that  it  should  be  as  the  Queen  wished. 

"  But  Meliagraunce  had  still  other  mischief 
in  his  mind.  Now  that  he  had  found  that  he 
must  send  the  Queen  back  to  Westminster,  he 
decided  that  he  would  charge  her  with  treason 
to  the  King.  That  was  as  easy  a  charge  to  make 
against  her  as  any,  and  it  was  as  easy  a  way  to 
harm  her  as  any,  since  that  was  what  he  wanted 
to  do.  You  know  anybody  could  charge  any- 
body else  with  anything,  as  long  as  he  was 
ready  to  fight  and  risk  his  life  to  prove  it.  Of 
course  it  did  not  take  a  minute  for  Lancelot  to 
say  that  the  charge  that  Meliagraunce  made 
was  a  lie  and  that  he  would  fight  with  him  to 


86     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

prove  that  the  Queen  was  not  a  traitor  to  the 
King,  whenever  and  wherever  Meliagraunce 
liked.  And  Meliagraunce  said  that  it  should  be 
eight  days  from  that  day,  at  Westminster,  be- 
fore King  Arthur. 

"  Now  you  may  be  sure  that  Meliagraunce 
would  never  have  said  a  word  against  the  Queen 
if  he  had  thought  that  he  should  really  have  to 
fight  with  Lancelot  about  it.  But  he  had  still 
another  trick  to  play,  which  he  thought  was  a 
good  one.  He  pretended  to  be  very  friendly 
with  Lancelot  and  asked  him  if  he  should  like 
to  see  his  castle.  Then  he  led  him  about  from 
room  to  room  and  at  last  he  led  him  over  a  trap 
door.  It  gave  way  and  Lancelot  fell  down  into 
a  dungeon  and  struck  on  a  heap  of  straw.  And 
there  Meliagraunce  meant  to  keep  him  till  after 
the  time  for  the  fight.  And  so,  as  he  expected, 
it  would  all  be  decided  his  way,  because  Lance- 
lot would  not  be  there  to  defend  the  Queen,  or, 
at  the  worst,  he  would  have  to  fight  with  some 
knight  who  was  not  so  good  as  Lancelot. 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to  tell  you  just  here  that 
King  Arthur  himself  could  not  fight  for  the 
Queen  in  such  a  case  as  this,  because  he  had  to 
sit  and  be  the  judge  in  all  such  fights.  And 
Arthur  always  did  justice  to  rich  and  poor  and 
to  great  and  small  alike,  and  he  would  do  the 
same  justice,  or  he  would  try  to,  to  the  one 
whom  he  loved  best  of  all  the  world  as  to  the 


The  Queens  Robing- Room  87 

meanest  man  or  woman  who  could  be  brought 
before  him. 

"  When  the  rest  were  ready  to  go  back  to 
Westminster  they  were  surprised,  of  course,  that 
Lancelot  was  not  with  them.  But  they  did  not 
think  that  it  was  so  very  strange,  for  Lancelot 
often  went  away  suddenly  in  search  of  advent- 
ures and  told  nobody  that  he  was  going.  So 
they  went  back  and  told  the  King  that  Melia- 
graunce  had  charged  the  Queen  with  treason 
and  that  Lancelot  was  to  defend  her.  And  the 
King  was  not  alarmed  at  all,  for  he  knew  that 
the  Queen  could  not  be  guilty  of  such  a  thing, 
and  he  felt  sure  that  Lancelot  would  be  at  hand 
when  the  time  came  to  prove  it. 

"  But  the  King  felt  more  sure  of  Lancelot 
than  Lancelot  felt  of  himself,  for  all  that  week 
he  was  in  prison.  And  on  the  eighth  day  Melia- 
graunce  came  to  Westminster  ready  for  the 
fight  and  called  upon  the  King  to  give  judgment 
against  the  Queen,  because  Lancelot  was  not 
there  to  defend  her.  Then  Arthur  said  that  he 
was  sure  that  Lancelot  must  be  dead  or  sick  or 
else  in  prison,  for  he  never  failed  to  keep  his 
promise  before,  and  he  asked  if  there  was  any 
other  knight  who  would  fight  in  his  place  to 
defend  the  Queen.  Then  a  knight  of  the  Round 
Table  said  that  he  was  sure,  too,  that  it  was  as 
the  King  had  said  and  he  would  fight  for  the 
Queen  instead  of  Lancelot. 


88     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  But  Meliagraunce,  as  clever  people  some- 
times do,  had  made  a  mistake.  He  did  not 
know,  perhaps,  that  there  was  a  woman  in  his 
castle  who  was  in  love  with  Lancelot.  But 
there  were  a  good  many  such  women  scattered 
over  England  and  he  ought  to  have  been  careful 
about  it.  On  the  very  morning  when  the  battle 
was  to  be  she  came  to  Lancelot  and  told  him 
that  she  would  let  him  out  of  his  prison  if  he 
would  give  her  one  kiss.  Lancelot  thought  that 
this  was  not  a  large  price  to  pay  and  he  paid  it. 
Then  the  woman  let  him  out  and  found  his 
armor  for  him  and  helped  him  to  get  a  horse 
from  the  stable  and  he  set  off,  as  fast  as  he  could 
go,  for  Westminster.  And  he  arrived  just  as 
the  knight  who  had  promised  to  fight  for  him 
had  taken  his  place  ready  to  begin  the  battle. 

"  Lancelot  rode  straight  up  before  the  King 
and  told  him  how  Meliagraunce  had  trapped  him 
and  kept  him  in  prison,  and  then  he  took  the 
place  of  the  other  knight  and  was  ready  for  the 
fight.  Nobody  had  any  doubt  how  the  fight 
would  go.  Everybody  felt  that  the  right  would 
win  and  that  the  right  meant  Lancelot.  The 
King  felt  so  sure  of  it  that  he  had  the  Queen 
come  and  sit  in  her  place  beside  him,  though 
she  was  accused  of  treason.  The  heralds  gave 
the  signal,  the  knights  charged  together,  and 
Meliagraunce  was  thrown  from  his  horse. 
Lancelot  dismounted  then  and  they  fought  with 


The  Queens  Robing-Room  89 

swords,  but  it  was  only  a  few  moments  before 
Meliagraunce  was  disarmed  and  helpless  and 
begging  for  mercy. 

"  Then  Lancelot  had  a  hard  question  to  de- 
cide. In  any  ordinary  fight  it  would  be  un- 
knightly  to  refuse  mercy  to  any  knight  who 
asked  it,  but  Lancelot  felt  that  such  a  cow- 
ardly, lying  wretch  as  this  had  no  right  to  live 
and  that  he  had  no  right  to  let  him  live.  He 
thought  fora  moment  and  then  he  said  :  '  Melia- 
graunce, take  up  your  sword  and  let  us  go  on 
with  this  fight  to  the  end.' 

" '  I  will  not  fight  any  more,'  said  Melia- 
graunce ;  '  you  have  beaten  me  and  I  ask  your 
mercy,  and  you  must  give  it,  as  you  are  a  knight 
of  the  Round  Table.' 

"'  Meliagraunce,'  said  Lancelot,  'I  will  take 
off  my  helmet  and  all  the  armor  that  I  can  from 
the  left  side  of  my  body,  and  my  left  hand  shall 
be  tied  behind  me,  and  then  I  will  fight  with 
you.' 

"  Then  Meliagraunce  ran  toward  the  King. 
'  My  lord,'  he  cried,  '  have  you  heard  what  he 
has  said  ?  I  call  upon  you  to  make  him  keep 
his  promise  and  fight  me  with  his  head  and  his 
left  side  uncovered.' 

" '  Meliagraunce,'  said  Lancelot, '  come  back  ! 
I  am  not  a  liar,  like  you,  and  I  need  no  one  to 
make  me  keep  my  promises,  even  to  traitors  and 
cowards.' 


9O     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  Then  Lancelot's  armor  was  taken  off  his 
left  side,  as  much  of  it  as  could  be,  and  his  hel- 
met was  taken  off.  And  his  left  hand  was  tied 
behind  him,  so  that  he  could  not  use  his  shield. 
And  in  this  way  he  stood  ready  for  the  fight 
again.  Meliagraunce  aimed  a  blow  at  his  head, 
but  Lancelot  caught  it  with  his  sword  and  put 
it  aside.  Then  he  struck  one  great  stroke  and 
split  Meliagraunce's  helmet  and  laid  him  dead 
on  the  field.  And  everybody  felt  that  the 
Round  Table  was  better  by  the  loss  of  Melia- 
graunce than  it  would  be  by  the  gain  of  three 
good  knights.  And  now  I  think  that  it  is 
about  time  for  us  to  look  at  these  pictures  that 
we  came  to  see." 

The  pictures  were  painted  on  the  walls  of 
two  sides  of  the  room.  On  the  third  side  was 
a  throne,  with  a  canopy  over  it,  and  on  the 
fourth  side  were  the  windows.  The  artist  had 
painted  scenes  from  the  stories  of  King  Arthur 
and  he  had  made  them  represent  the  virtues 
that  he  thought  ought  to  belong  to  a  good 
knight.  One  of  his  pictures  he  called  "  Mercy," 
and  it  showed  Sir  Gawain  kneeling  before 
Queen  Guinevere  and  swearing  always  to  be 
merciful  and  never  to  be  against  ladies.  The 
one  next  to  this  was  "  Hospitality,"  and  in  it 
King  Arthur  was  receiving  Sir  Tristram  as  a 
knight  of  the  Round  Table.  Another  picture 
was  "Courtesy,"  and  there  Tristram  was  play- 


The  Queens  Rowing-Room  91 

ing  his  harp  to  Isolt.  For  "  Religion  "  there 
was  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Galahad  and  his  Com- 
pany." Then  there  was  one  of  "  Generosity," 
with  King  Arthur  thrown  from  his  horse  in 
battle  and  his  life  spared  by  Lancelot.  "  That 
seems  a  strange  picture  to  you,  no  doubt,"  I 
said,  "  but  some  time  I  will  tell  you  the  story 
that  it  belongs  to,  and  then  it  will  not  seem  so 
strange." 

All  around  under  these  pictures  and  on  the 
side  of  the  room  where  the  throne  was,  there 
were  carvings :  "Arthur  Delivered  unto  Mer- 
lin," "Arthur  Crowned  King,"  "  How  Arthur 
Gate  His  Sword  Excalibur,"  "  King  Arthur 
Wedded  to  Guinevere,"  and  many  more. 

"  But  of  all  these  pictures,"  I  said,  "  the  one 
that  reminds  me  of  a  story  that  I  want  to  tell 
you  just  now  is  this  one  of  '  The  Admission  of 
Sir  Tristram  to  the  Fellowship  of  the  Round 
Table."  Tristram  had  been  known  as  the  best 
knight  of  the  world,  next  to  Lancelot,  for  a 
long  time  before  he  was  a  knight  of  the  Round 
Table.  King  Arthur  had  long  wished  that 
Tristram  might  be  one  of  his  knights,  and 
Lancelot  had  heard  so  much  about  him  that  he 
wanted  to  know  him  and  to  be  his  friend.  So 
at  last  Lancelot  and  some  of  the  other  knights 
set  out  to  hunt  for  Tristram  and  to  try  to  bring 
him  to  the  court. 

"  You  remember  that  Tristram  was  in  love 


92     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

with  Isolt,  the  Princess  of  Ireland.  There  was 
another  knight,  Sir  Palamides,  who  was  in  love 
with  her  too.  I  must  tell  you  about  this  Pala- 
mides, for  there  never  was  a  knight  who  be- 
longed more  to  that  dear,  silly  old  time  or  fitted 
into  it  better  than  he  did.  He  was  a  good  and 
strong  and  brave  knight,  but  Isolt  did  not  care 
two  straws  for  him  and  never  would,  and  he 
knew  it.  But  do  you  suppose  that  made  any 
difference  to  him  ?  Not  a  bit.  He  made  it  half 
of  his  business  to  love  her  year  after  year, 
though  he  knew  that  it  would  never  do  him  or 
anybody  else  any  good.  It  never  came  into  his 
head  that  there  were  just  as  good  fish  in  the 
sea  as  ever  came  out  of  it.  No,  all  he  cared  for 
was  to  sit  on  the  shore  of  the  sea,  never  trying 
to  catch  or  even  thinking  of  any  other  good  fish, 
but  only  wishing  and  wishing  that  he  might 
catch  the  one  that  he  knew  he  never  could.  It 
was  just  like  a  good  knight  of  those  days. 

"  I  said  that  he  made  it  half  of  his  business 
to  love  Isolt.  The  other  half  of  his  business 
was  to  hunt  the  questing  beast.  It  was  called 
the  questing  beast  because  of  the  questing  or 
barking  noise  that  came  out  of  it.  It  was  a 
wonderful  animal  altogether.  It  had  a  body 
like  a  leopard  in  front  and  like  a  lion  behind, 
but  its  head  was  like  a  serpent's  and  its  feet 
were  like  those  of  a  deer.  And  it  did  not  make 
this  barking  noise  with  its  mouth,  but  the  noise 


The  Queen  s  Robing- Room  93 

was  inside  the  beast,  and  it  was  not  like  the 
barking  of  one  dog,  but  of  sixty  dogs.  I  don't 
know  why  Palamides  hunted  it  or  what  he  was 
going  to  do  with  it  if  he  ever  caught  it,  but  this 
again  was  just  like  a  knight  of  those  days. 

"  Now  Palamides  used  often  to  feel  very  un- 
friendly toward  Tristram,  because  Tristram 
loved  Isolt.  By  nature  I  believe  that  he  was  a 
good  fellow,  but  he  was  hot-tempered,  and,  like 
other  hot-tempered  people,  he  sometimes  did 
things  that  he  was  afterward  sorry  for.  And 
so,  when  he  met  Tristram,  he  often  felt  angry 
and  wanted  to  fight  with  him.  And  Tristram 
beat  him  usually,  but  not  always,  for  Pala- 
mides was  such  a  good  knight  that  he  could 
give  Tristram,  or  even  Lancelot,  a  pretty  hard 
battle.  Then  Palamides  would  be  Tristram's 
friend  for  awhile,  and  then  he  would  think 
more  about  Isolt  and  would  grow  to  be  his 
enemy  again,  and  so  would  be  ready  for  an- 
other fight. 

"  And  once  Tristram  and  Palamides  had  set 
a  time  and  a  place  to  fight  together  and  settle 
everything  between  them.  But  when  the  day 
came  Palamides  was  held  in  prison  by  some 
enemy  and  could  not  come.  But  Tristram  was 
at  the  place,  and  as  he  waited  he  saw  a  knight 
riding  toward  him,  with  a  closed  helmet  and  a 
covered  shield.  Of  course  he  thought  that  this 
was  Palamides,  ready  for  the  fight,  so  he  put 


94     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

his  spear  in  rest  and  faced  him,  and  the  other 
knight,  seeing  him  do  that,  got  ready  to  defend 
himself.  Now  this  other  knight  was  Lancelot, 
and  when  the  two  had  been  fighting  for  a  few 
minutes  each  began  to  wonder  who  the  other 
could  be.  Tristram  knew  very  well  that  he  was 
fighting  with  a  better  knight  than  Palamides, 
and  Lancelot  knew  that  he  had  never  fought 
with  so  good  a  knight  before. 

"  And  after  a  long  time  it  came  into  their 
heads  to  stop  fighting  for  a  moment  and  ask 
each  other  who  they  were.  And  when  each 
had  told  the  other  his  name  they  saw  what  a 
mistake  they  had  made  in  fighting  at  all.  It 
was  then  that  Lancelot  made  Tristram  come  to 
the  court  with  him,  and  it  was  then  that  King 
Arthur  welcomed  him  and  gave  him  his  seat  at 
the  Round  Table,  as  the  picture  shows. 

"  And  now,  after  all  this  bother,  we  have- 
come  to  the  story.  Tristram  had  not  been  long 
a  knight  of  the  Round  Table  when  King  Ar- 
thur made  a  great  tournament  in  his  honor.  It 
was  at  the  Castle  of  Lonazep.  I  don't  know 
just  where  that  was,  but  it  was  somewhere  up 
in  the  other  end  of  England.  As  Tristram  was 
on  his  way  to  the  tournament  he  met  Pala- 
mides, and  they  fought,  as  usual.  And  Tris- 
tram won,  as  usual,  and  then  Palamides  begged 
him  to  let  him  ride  to  the  tournament  with  him 
and  fight  for  him  and  do  him  service. 


The  Queeu  s  Robing-Room  95 

"  So  they  rode  together  till  they  came  to  the 
River  Humber,  and  there  they  saw  a  boat,  all 
covered  with  canopies  of  purple  silk,  coming  up 
the  stream.  It  came  to  the  shore  close  to  them 
and  lay  there  still.  Then  Tristram  and  Pala- 
mides  went  down  into  the  boat  and  saw  a  strange 
sight.  In  the  middle  of  it  was  a  couch,  all  cov- 
ered with  silk  and  cloth  of  gold,  and  on  the  couch 
lay  a  dead  knight,  armed  all  but  his  head.  As 
Tristram  stood  gazing  and  wondering  at  this  he 
saw  that  there  was  a  letter  in  the  dead  knight's 
hand.  He  took  the  letter  and  opened  and  read 
it,  and  this  is  what  it  said  :  '  To  the  knights  of 
King  Arthur:  I  who  bring  this  letter  was  Her- 
mance,  King  of  the  Red  City.  I  was  killed  by 
two  traitors,  for  my  lands  and  my  crown.  Now 
I  pray  that  some  one  of  King  Arthur's  knights 
will  avenge  my  death  and  will  take  my  city  and 
my  castles  and  my  crown  for  his  reward.' 

"Then  Palamides  said:  'Sir  Tristram,  you 
must  be  at  this  tournament,  for  King  Arthur 
has  made  it  in  your  honor,  and  he  and  many 
others  will  wish  to  see  you  here.  So  let  me 
go  to  avenge  the  death  of  this  King,  and 
whatever  I  do  shall  be  done  for  you  and  in 
your  name.' 

"'You  are  right,'  said  Tristram,  'and  you 
may  go,  but  come  back,  if  you  can,  for  the  tour- 
nament.' 

" '  If  I  live,'  said  Palamides, '  and  the  work  that 


96     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

I  find  to  do  will  let  me,  I  will  be  with  you  again 
at  the  tournament.' 

"  Then  Tristram  went  ashore  from  the  boat 
and  Palamides  stayed  in  it,  and  the  men  turned 
the  boat  and  it  went  away  down  the  river.  The 
men  in  the  boat  knew  why  Palamides  stayed  in 
it.  He  did  not  speak  to  them  and  they  did  not 
speak  to  him.  He  knew  that  they  would  take 
him  where  he  ought  to  go,  so  he  stood  at  the 
prow  and  watched  the  fields  that  they  passed 
and  the  woods  and  the  river,  and  waited  to  see 
and  to  know  who  these  traitors  were  whom  he 
must  punish  and  what  sort  of  task  it  was  to 
be  to  avenge  this  dead  King.  And  after  a  time 
the  boat  came  to  where  the  river  widened  out 
toward  the  sea,  and  the  men  steered  it  toward  a 
castle  that  stood  on  the  shore.  Then  they  gave 
Palamides  a  horn  and  told  him  to  blow  it.  And 
the  people  of  the  castle  knew  the  sound  of  the 
horn,  and  when  they  heard  it  they  came  down 
to  where  the  boat  had  landed  and  welcomed 
Palamides  and  led  him  up  into  the  hall.  There 
the  lord  of  the  castle  met  him  and  made  him  sit 
at  the  table  and  they  brought  him  food  and  wine. 
And  Palamides  saw  that  the  lord  of  the  castle 
and  all  the  others  in  it  were  dressed  in  black,  and 
after  he  had  eaten  and  drunk  he  asked  why  this 
was. 

" '  It  is  for  the  death  of  our  King,'  the  lord  of 
the  castle  answered.  '  He  was  Hermance,  the 


The  Queen  s  Robing-Roont  97 

King  of  the  Red  City,  and  no  truer  king  ever 
lived.  He  had  two  foster  sons,  whom  he  had 
brought  up  since  they  were  children.  He  loved 
them  as  if  they  had  been  his  own  sons,  but  they 
were  false  and  wicked.  He  meant  when  he  died 
to  give  them  everything  he  had,  but  they  could 
not  wait.  So  they  watched  their  chance,  and 
one  day,  when  he  had  been  hunting  and  had 
stopped  to  drink  at  a  spring,  they  came  behind 
him  and  stabbed  him  in  the  back.  There,  be- 
side the  spring,  I  found  him,  not  yet  dead.  He 
made  me  put  him  in  a  boat  and  he  made  me  write 
a  letter  and  put  it  in  his  hand  before  he  died. 
The  boatmen  were  told  to  go  up  the  Humber 
toward  Lonazep,  where  all  King  Arthur's 
knights  were  soon  to  be,  and  the  letter  asked 
that  some  one  of  them  would  come  to  avenge  the 
death  of  our  good  King.  And  you,  Sir  Knight — 
since  you  have  come  in  this  boat — I  suppose 
that  you  have  read  this  letter  and  have  come  to 
help  us.' 

"  '  One  of  the  best  knights  of  the  world,  Sir 
Tristram,  read  that  letter,'  Palamides  said, '  and 
I  have  come  for  him  and  in  his  name  to  avenge 
the  death  of  your  King.  So  tell  me  where  I  shall 
find  these  men.' 

" '  You  must  take  your  boat  again/  said  the 
lord,  'and  go  to  the  Delectable  Isle.  There  is 
the  Red  City,  and  there  you  will  find  these  two 
brothers,  Helius  and  Helake.  Go  and  conquer 


98     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

them  and  we  shall  pray  for  you  and  wait  to  hear 
what  you  have  done.' 

"  Then  Palamides  went  back  to  his  boat,  and 
just  as  he  came  to  it  he  met  a  knight  who  said : 
'Sir  Knight,  tell  me  who  you  are  and  where  you 
are  going.' 

"'By  what  right/  said  Palamides,  'do  you 
command  me  so  ? ' 

" '  If  you  are  going  to  the  Red  City,'  said  the 
knight, '  to  avenge  the  death  of  King  Hermance, 
turn  back  and  go  no  farther.  It  is  for  me,  not 
for  you,  to  avenge  him.  I  am  the  brother  of 
King  Hermance.' 

" '  That  may  be  true,'  Palamides  answered, 
'  but  when  the  letter  was  taken  out  of  the  dead 
King's  hand  we  did  not  know  that  there  was  any 
knight  to  avenge  him.  I  promised  then  that  I 
would  do  it,  and  I  must  do  it  now  or  I  shall  be 
false  to  my  promise.' 

"  '  That  is  true,'  said  the  other  knight, '  but  now 
let  us  try  a  few  strokes  together,  to  see  which  of 
us  is  the  better  knight,  and  then  that  one  shall 
avenge  the  King  my  brother.' 

"  So  they  drew  their  swords  and  struck  a  few 
strokes,  and  then  the  brother  of  the  King  said  : 
'  You  are  the  better ;  the  adventure  is  yours. 
But  I  will  go  to  the  Red  City  too,  so  that  I  can 
fight  with  these  traitors  if  they  kill  you. 

"  '  Come  with  me,  then,'  said  Palamides, '  but 
if  they  kill  me  go  to  my  lord,  Sir  Tristram,  and 


The  Queen  s  Robing-Room  99 

tell  him  of  it,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  or  Sir 
Lancelot  will  come  to  avenge  me  and  the  King 
your  brother.' 

"  So  they  both  went  on  in  the  boat  till  they 
came  to  the  Delectable  Isle  and  the  Red  City. 
And  there  all  the  people  welcomed  them,  for 
they  all  loved  their  King  who  was  dead  and  hated 
the  traitors  who  had  killed  him.  And  they  sent 
messengers  to  the  brothers  to  tell  them  that 
one  of  King  Arthur's  knights  had  come  to  fight 
with  them,  to  avenge  King  Hermance.  And  the 
brothers  sent  back  word  that  they  would  be 
ready  for  the  fight  the  next  morning. 

"  In  the  morning  Paiamides  was  ready  in  the 
lists  and  the  people  of  the  city  came  to  see  the 
battle.  And  when  they  saw  what  a  bold  and 
strong-looking  man  Paiamides  was  they  began 
to  hope  that  they  should  be  free  of  their  tyrants 
and  have  another  King  as  good  as  Hermance. 
Then  the  brothers  came  and  took  their  places 
at  the  other  end  of  the  lists,  and  when  the  peo- 
ple looked  at  them  they  began  to  fear  again  that 
the  one  knight  from  King  Arthur's  court  could 
never  beat  them. 

"  It  was  Helake  who  came  first  against  Paia- 
mides, and  Paiamides  ran  him  through  with  his 
spear  at  the  first  charge  and  he  fell  dead  upon 
the  field.  But  the  battle  with  Helius  was  not  so 
easy.  At  the  first  charge  Paiamides  was  thrown 
from  his  saddle,  and  as  he  lay  on  the  ground, 


ioo    The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

before  he  could  get  up,  Helius  tried  to  drive  his 
horse  over  him,  to  crush  him.  But  Palamides 
sprang  up  and  caught  the  bridle  and  cried : 
'  Come  down  and  fight  me  fairly  on  foot  or  I 
will  kill  your  horse  and  make  you  do  it.' 

"  Then  Helius  got  off  his  horse  and  they  began 
to  fight  again  with  their  swords.  It  was  a  fight 
for  life  and  death,  and  it  was  a  hard  one.  It 
lasted  for  a  long  time,  with  no  rest,  and  Helius 
seemed  never  to  lose  any  ground  or  any  strength, 
but  Palamides  grew  weaker  and  fainter  and  he 
was  forced  back  and  back  across  the  field.  The 
people  saw  it  and  a  low,  sad  murmur  ran  through 
the  crowd.  And  Palamides  heard  it,  and  for  an 
instant  he  glanced  away  from  his  enemy  and  saw 
the  anxious  faces  of  the  people  and  the  tears  in 
the  eyes  of  some  and  the  fear  in  the  looks  of 
many.  Then  he  said  to  himself :  '  Palamides, 
you  are  a  knight  of  the  Round  Table.  Will  you 
let  the  news  go  back  to  King  Arthur  that  you 
were  beaten  in  a  fight  by  a  traitor  and  a  mur- 
derer? And  you  are  here  for  Tristram.  Will 
you  lose  his  battle  for  him?' 

"And  with  that  thought  he  gathered  all  his 
strength  and  struck  Helius  three  great  blows 
with  his  sword,  one  upon  the  other,  and  with  the 
third  he  cut  through  his  helmet  and  laid  him 
dead  upon  the  field  with  his  brother. 

"  Then  a  great  shout  went  up  from  all  the" 
people  and  some  of  them  ran  away  to  tell  those 


The   Queen  s  Robing- Room         101 

who  had  not  seen  the  fight  how  it  had  gone,  and 
they  built  bonfires  and  set  all  the  bells  of  the 
city  ringing,  and  others  crowded  around  the 
knight  and  cheered  and  shouted :  '  Long  live 
King  Palamides ! ' 

"  But  when  they  would  let  him  speak  to  them 
Palamides  said :  '  You  must  not  call  me  so ;  all 
that  I  have  done  was  for  my  lord,  Sir  Tristram. 
If  he  could  have  come  he  would  have  fought 
this  battle  better  than  I.  If  you  have  any  new 
king  it  is  he,  and  now  I  must  go  back  to  him. 
But  I  leave  here  this  good  knight,  the  brother 
of  your  old  King  Hermance,  and  he  shall  rule 
you  till  Sir  Tristram  sends  to  tell  you  what  else 
to  do.' 

"  Then  Palamides  went  on  board  his  boat 
again  and  it  took  him  away  toward  the  Hum- 
ber  and  toward  Lonazep  to  find  Sir  Tristram." 


CHAPTER  V 

"CAMELOT,  THAT  IS  IN  ENGLISH  WINCHESTER" 

EVEN  while  we  were  at  Camelford,  and  again 
while  we  were  at  Cadbury  Castle,  I  had  not 
forgotten  the  words  of  my  favorite  book, 
"  Camelot,  that  is  in  English  Winchester."  If 
we  were  talking  about  hard  history,  I  suppose 
that  I  should  have  to  say  that,  if  there  ever  was 
a  real  Camelot  at  all,  it  was  probably  that 
pleasant  hill-top  that  we  had  seen  in  Somerset. 
Yet,  when  a  story-teller  whom  I  love  as  much 
as  I  do  good  old  Sir  Thomas  says  that  Win- 
chester was  Camelot,  it  shall  be  Camelot  for 
me,  at  least  while  I  am  there.  So  we  went 
down  from  London  to  see  if  this  third  Camelot 
pleased  us  as  much  as  the  two  that  we  had 
seen. 

First  we  walked  about  the  streets  and  aimed 
at  nothing  in  particular.  That  is  a  good  thing 
to  do  on  the  first  day  when  you  are  in  a  strange 
city.  "If  I  were  to  try  to  tell  you,"  I  said, 

102 


"  Camelol,  that  is    Winchester  "      103 

"all  the  interesting-  and  useful  and  delightful 
things  that  there  are  to  tell  about  Winchester, 
I  should  have  to  go  first  and  learn  the  most  of 
them  for  myself.  And  then  you  would  get 
tired  of  listening  to  them,  for  there  would  be 
enough  of  them  to  make  a  book  as  big  as  a 
dictionary.  We  are  supposing,  you  know, 
while  we  stay,  that  King  Arthur  lived  here, 
and,  whether  he  did  or  not,  other  kings  of  Eng- 
land lived  here  more  or  less  for  I  don't  know 
how  many  hundred  years.  King  Alfred  lived 
here  and  King  Canute  lived  here  and  William 
the  Conqueror  built  a  castle  here,  on  the  very 
spot,  we  will  let  ourselves  believe,  where  King 
Arthur's  castle  stood." 

If  the  first  thing  to  be  done  in  a  town  newly 
visited  is  to  walk  about  the  streets,  the  second 
is  to  go  to  the  cathedral,  if  there  is  one.  So 
the  next  thing  that  we  did  was  to  go  to  Win- 
chester Cathedral.  It  is  not  much  to  look  at 
from  the  outside,  though  it  is  pretty  enough, 
with  the  trees  and  grass  around  it.  It  has  only 
the  lowest  of  towers.  It  had  a  higher  one  once, 
but  when  King  William  Rufus  was  killed, 
they  buried  him  in  the  cathedral  and  seven 
years  afterward  the  tower  fell  down.  They 
thought  that  it  must  be  because  they  had  buried 
such  a  wicked  man  in  the  church.  But  I  think 
that  there  are  kings  as  bad  as  William  Rufus 
buried  under  some  English  towers  that  have 


IO4    The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

not  fallen  down.  There  are  kings  and  kings, 
good  and  bad,  lying  here  in  this  cathedral. 
Canute  is  here,  and  it  was  here  that  he  brought 
his  crown  and  put  it  up  over  the  cross,  after  he 
had  found,  down  yonder  at  Southampton,  that 
he  could  not  rule  the  waves,  as  England  has 
since  been  supposed  to  do.  To  be  fair  to  the 
cathedral,  I  ought  to  say  that,  though  it  is  un- 
promising outside,  it  is  surely  very  beautiful 
inside.  After  that  I  think  I  do  not  need  to 
say  any  thing  more  about  it  at  all,  because  there 
are  so  many  people  who  can  tell  you  about  this 
cathedral  and  others  so  much  better  than  I 
can. 

We  left  it  and  walked  up  the  street  to  find 
the  castle.  I  think  I  forgot  to  say  at  the 
proper  place  that  the  whole  town  of  Win- 
chester that  day  was  in  a  state  of  breathless 
excitement  about  a  cricket  match.  The  boys 
of  Winchester  College  were  playing  against 
the  boys  from  Eton,  and  pretty  nearly  every- 
body in  town  had  gone  to  see  the  game. 
When  we  got  to  the  castle,  the  man  who  ought 
to  have  been  there  to  show  it  to  us  had  gone 
to  see  the  cricket  match,  like  the  rest.  But  his 
wife,  who  was  a  very  pleasant  elderly  lady, 
said  that  she  would  show  it  to  us. 

They  hold  court  in  the  castle  still.  Not  the 
sort  of  court  that  King  Arthur  used  to  hold, 
but  courts  of  justice  for  the  County  of  Hants. 


"  Camelot,  that  is    Winchester"     105 

The  old  woman  took  us  into  one  room  after 
another  and  told  us  about  the  trials  that  had 
taken  place  in  them.  We  pretended  to  be 
greatly  interested,  but  we  were  not  a  bit.  But 
by  and  by  she  took  us  to  a  place  where  we 
were  interested.  It  was  the  great  hall  of  the 
castle.  I  should  feel  sorry  for  anybody  who 
was  not  interested  in  the  great  hall  of  Win- 
chester Castle.  It  belonged  to  the  old  castle 
that  William  the  Conqueror  built,  where  more 
kings  and  queens  lived  or  were  born  or  died 
or  did  other  fascinating  things  than  I  should 
dare  to  try  to  remember.  And  this  was  the 
hall  of  Parliament  for  almost  four  hundred 
years.  "  And  we  may  as  well  believe,"  I  said, 
"  that  now  we  are  standing  in  King  Arthur's 
hall.  If  Winchester  was  Camelot  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  his  castle  was  not  on 
this  very  spot,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose, either,  that  the  great  hall  was  not  on  this 
very  spot.  Henry  VII.  believed  it,  when  his 
son  was  born  here  and  he  named  him  Arthur." 
It  is  a  beautiful  room  as  it  stands  to-day.  It 
is  long  and  wide  and  high.  It  has  fine  arches 
and  cluster  columns  and  windows  of  stained 
glass.  But  what  we  gazed  at  most  hung  high 
up  on  the  wall  at  the  west  end  of  the  hall.  The 
old  woman  told  us  that  it  was  King  Arthur's 
Round  Table.  Well,  there  was  no  doubt  that 
it  was  round,  and  she  said  that  there  was  no 


io6    The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

doubt  that  it  had  been  a  table  once,  because 
there  were  places  at  the  back  of  it  to  fasten 
legs.  We  found  a  picture  of  the  back  of  it 
afterwards  in  a  book  about  Winchester,  and  it 
showed  that  she  was  right.  The  table  is  eigh- 
teen feet  across,  if  you  insist  on  my  being  exact. 

The  table  is  painted  in  quite  an  elaborate 
style.  There  is  a  big  rose  in  the  middle  of  it, 
and  then  there  is  a  border,  and  in  the  border 
are  the  words  :  "  This  is  the  round  table  of 
King  Arthur  and  his  twenty-four  Knights." 
This  did  not  make  us  believe  in  the  table  any 
the  more,  because  we  knew  very  well  that 
twenty-four  knights  would  not  make  any  show 
at  all  in  King  Arthur's  hall.  Above  the  rose, 
as  the  table  hangs  now,  and  with  his  feet  rest- 
ing on  it,  is  a  picture  of  King  Arthur  himself. 
The  rest  of  the  table,  except  the  outer  edge, 
is  painted  with  broad  stripes  of  dark  and  light, 
which  run  from  the  border  around  the  rose  to 
the  larger  border  of  the  whole  table.  The  old 
woman  asked  us  to  notice  that  the  names  of 
the  knights  were  around  the  edge  of  the  table. 

We  tried  to  make  out  the  names  and  we  did 
make  out  some  of  them.  There  were  Lancelot 
and  Lionel  and  Tristram  and  Gareth  and  Bedi- 
vere  and  Palamides  and  Bors  and  Kay  and 
Mordred  and  others  that  we  could  not  read. 
The  old  woman  said  that  there  were  some  of 
them  that  nobody  had  ever  been  able  to  read, 


"  Camelot,  that  is    Winchester  "     107 

and  we  were  not  so  proud  as  to  try  to  read 
what  we  were  told  that  nobody  could.  It  was 
King  Henry  VIII.  who  had  this  table  painted 
in  such  a  gorgeous  way,  and  it  seemed  to  us 
that  the  picture  of  King  Arthur  did  not  look 
quite  unlike  Henry.  No,  we  could  not  quite 
believe  in  the  table  after  all.  King  Arthur's 
Round  Table  had  places,  as  we  knew,  for  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  knights,  and  this  had  places  for 
only  twenty-four.  Still  we  could  not  help  be- 
ing uncommonly  interested  in  anything  that 
had  even  been  called  King  Arthur's  Round 
Table  for  four  hundred  years  at  the  very  least, 
and  probably  for  six  hundred. 

"You  see,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  the  three 
pictures  on  the  windows  over  the  Round 
Table  are  King  Arthur  and  King  Alfred  and 
King  Canute,  a  Briton  and  a  Saxon  and  a 
Dane." 

We  looked  up  at  the  three  kings  on  the 
stained  glass  windows,  and  it  was  then  that  I 
made  a  dreadful  mistake.  It  came  into  my 
mind  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  show  off 
to  this  good  lady  who  had  so  kindly  shown  us 
the  hall,  how  much  we  knew  about  these  three 
kings.  Pride  does  sometimes  go  before  a  fall. 
"  Helen,"  I  said,  "  tell  this  lady  something 
about  King  Arthur,  just  to  show  her  how  much 
we  have  learned." 

"  I  don't  want  to  tell  about  him,"  Helen  an- 


io8     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

swered,  "  I  would  rather  you  would  tell  a  story 
about  him." 

"  But  I  am  not  going  to  tell  any  story  now," 
I  said,  "  I  want  you  to  tell  one — any  one  you 
like,  just  to  show  that  you  can  do  it."  « 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  show  that  I  can  do  it." 

"  Helen,  if  you  do  not  tell  us  something  about 
King  Arthur  at  once,  I  will  not  tell  you  another 
Btory  for  a  week." 

And  then  what  did  this  horrible  child  do 
but  stand  there  and  recite  : 

"  When  good  King  Arthur  ruled  this  land 

He  was  a  goodly  King  ; 
He  stole  three  pecks  of  barley  meal 

To  make  a  bag-pudding. 
A  bag-pudding  the  king  did  make, 

And  stuffed  it  well  with  plums  ; 
And  in  it  put  great  lumps  of  fat, 

As  big  as  my  two  thumbs. 
The  King  and  Queen  did  eat  thereof, 

And  noblemen  beside ; 
And  what  they  could  not  eat  that  night, 

The  Queen  next  morning  fried." 

I  tried  to  look  as  sorrowful  as  I  could. 
"  You  know  very  well,"  I  said,  "  that  that  is 
not  true  at  all.  That  was  written  by  some  en- 
emy of  King  Arthur.  There  are  plenty  of 
good  things  that  }'ou  know  and  might  have 
told  us  ;  and  so,  to  punish  you  for  telling  that, 
you  shall  tell  us  now  about  King  Canute  and 
his  courtiers." 


"  Came  lot,  that  is    Winchester  "     109 

Now  Helen  did  not  like  this  any  more  than 
she  liked  telling  about  King  Arthur,  but  she 
must  have  seen  how  very  determined  I  looked, 
and  she  gave  a  little  gasp  and  said  :  "  King 
Canute's  courtiers  told  him  that  he  was  the 
greatest  King  in  the  world,  and  that  the  sea 
would  obey  him  if  he  told  it  to  do  anything. 
So  he  had  his  chair  put  on  the  sand  and  he  or- 
dered the  tide  not  to  come  up  and  wet  him, 
and  it  did  come  up  and  wet  him.  And  he  told 
his  courtiers  not  to  flatter  him  any  more,  and 
he  never  smiled  again." 

"  You  get  worse  every  minute,"  I  said. 
"  You  know  very  well  that  it  was  not  Canute 
who  never  smiled  again,  and  for  telling  that 
story  wrong  you  shall  tell  us  now  about  King 
Alfred  and  the  cakes." 

By  this  time  Helen  saw  that  it  was  getting 
serious  and  that  it  would  not  do  any  good  to 
make  any  more  mistakes,  so  she  said  :  "  King 
Alfred  was  hiding  from  his  enemies,  and  he 
was  in  the  house  of  a  cowherd.  And  the  cow- 
herd's wife  was  baking  some  cakes,  and  King 
Alfred  was  sitting  by  the  fire.  And  the  cakes 
burned  and  he  was  so  busy  mending  his  bows 
and  arrows  that  he  didn't  know  it,  so  the  cow- 
herd's wife  said  :  '  Can't  you  look  at  the  cakes 
and  not  let  them  burn  ?  You'll  be  ready  to  eat 
them  fast  enough  when  the  time  comes.'  And 
she  didn't  know  that  he  was  the  King." 


no     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  I  can't  say,"  I  said,  "  that  you  have  told 
that  quite  as  well  as  you  might,  but  it  will  do. 
And  now,  who  was  it  that  never  smiled 
again  ?  " 

"  Henry  I." 

"And  why?" 

"  Because  his  son  William  was  drowned  when 
the  White  Ship  was  lost." 

"  Very  well.  The  first  class  in  English  his- 
tory could  sit  down,  if  there  was  anything  to 
sit  on." 

The  old  woman  was  quite  speechless  with  as- 
tonishment by  this  time.  1  don't  suppose  any- 
body had  ever  come  into  this  hall  and  tried  to 
tell  her  so  many  things  about  the  kings  who 
used  to  live  in  Winchester  before.  We  thanked 
her  for  her  trouble  and  said  good-by,  and  she 
just  managed  to  get  back  enough  of  her  senses 
to  say  that  we  were  welcome  and  to  bid  us 
good-by  in  turn.  "  And  now,"  I  said,  "suppose 
we  do  what  everybody  else  in  town  is  doing 
and  go  and  see  the  cricket  match." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   BOAT   ON   THE   RIVER 

NEITHER  Helen  nor  I  knew  enough  about 
cricket  to  tell  a  wicket-keeper  from  a  maiden 
over.  But,  whether  we  understood  what  was 
going  on  or  not,  the  Winchester  cricket-field 
that  day  was  a  pretty  sight.  The  grass  all  over 
it  was  fresh  and  green,  and  around  it  were 
crowds  of  gayly  dressed  people,  watching  the 
game  and  talking  and  laughing  and  enjoying 
the  warm,  soft  air  and  the  bright  sunshine.  For 
a  little  while  we  walked  around  the  edge  of  the 
field  and  looked  at  the  people  and  the  boys  who 
were  playing,  running  about  and  doing  such 
absurd  things  as  the  players  of  a  game  you  do 
not  understand  always  do.  Then  we  found  a 
quiet  place  across  the  field  from  where  the  most 
of  the  people  were,  and  there  we  sat  down  on 
the  grass  to  rest  and  to  try  to  make  some- 
thing out  of  the  game.  But  that  was  hopeless, 
and  we  soon  gave  it  up. 
in 


1 1 2     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"Just  suppose,"  I  said,  "  that  instead  of  these 
boys,  with  their  harmless  bats  and  balls  and 
wickets,  this  field  was  filled  with  armored 
knights  on  horses,  with  long  spears  and  great 
swords.  Suppose  that  they  were  playing  their 
own  rough  game  of  the  tournament,  charging 
together  and  throwing  one  another  off  their 
horses  and  not  caring  any  too  much,  some' 
times,  whether  they  killed  one  another  or  not. 
Suppose  that  the  people  from  the  town  had  all 
come  out  to  see  the  tournament,  just  as  they 
have  come  out  to-day  to  see  the  game  of 
cricket,  and  that  we  had  come,  too,  just  as  we 
really  have.  And  suppose  that  King  Arthur 
was  sitting  over  there  in  his  high  seat  to 
judge  the  knights.  If  we  can  suppose  all  this, 
I  think  that  we  shall  see  pretty  clearly  how 
one  of  King  Arthur's  tournaments  looked 
when  Winchester  was  Camelot.  There  is  a 
story,  very  pretty  and  very  sad,  about  a  tour- 
nament that  was  held  at  this  very  Camelot, 
and  for  all  I  know  it  may  have  been  on  this 
very  field. 

"  The  court  was  at  Westminster  just  then^ 
but  the  King  had  given  out  that  this  tourna- 
ment was  to  be  at  Camelot,  so,  when  the  time 
came,  he  and  his  knights  set  out  to  ride  here. 
The  Queen  was  sick  and  said  that  she  would  not 
come  with  them,  and  Lancelot  said  that  a  wound 
that  he  had  was  not  yet  well  and  so  he  would 


The  Boat  on  the  River  113 

stay  behind  too  and  would  not  fight  in  this  tour- 
nament. Now,  although  Lancelot  was  usually 
honest,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  just  now  he  was 
saying  what  was  not  quite  true.  The  truth  was 
that  Lancelot  wanted  to  be  at  the  tournament 
without  King  Arthur  or  any  of  the  knights 
knowing  that  he  was  there.  He  had  won  in  so 
many  tournaments  and  all  the  knights  knew  so 
well  that  he  was  sure  to  win  if  he  fought,  that 
none  of  them  liked  to  fight  against  him,  and 
tournaments  where  Lancelot  was  had  come  to 
be  rather  one-sided  affairs.  So  he  thought  that 
he  would  wait  till  the  others  were  gone  and 
then  come  to  Camelot  by  himself,  in  armor  that 
they  did  not  know  and  carrying  some  strange 
shield,  and  join  in  the  tournament  and  fight 
with  whom  he  pleased. 

"  It  was  early  morning  when  the  others  went 
away.  Lancelot  waited  till  noon,  so  that  he 
should  not  overtake  them  on  the  way,  and  then 
he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  toward  Camelot. 
Late  in  the  day  he  came  to  a  place  called  Asto- 
lat.  There  was  a  castle,  and  Lancelot  thought 
it  best  to  stay  there  for  the  night.  The  lord  of 
the  castle  was  an  old  knight,  Sir  Bernard  of 
Astolat.  He  welcomed  Lancelot  and  asked 
him  who  he  was,  but  Lancelot  said :  '  If  you 
will  pardon  me,  I  do  not  wish  to  tell  my  name. 
I  am  going  to  the  tournament  at  Camelot,  to 
try  what  I  can  do  against  the  knights  who  will 
8 


H4     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

be  there,  and  I  do  not  wish  that  any  of  them 
shall  know  who  I  am.' 

"  When  it  was  time  for  supper  Lancelot  sat 
at  the  table  with  Sir  Bernard  and  his  two  sons, 
and  Sir  Bernard's  daughter  served  them.  Her 
name  was  Elaine.  And  wherever  Elaine  went 
and  whatever  she  did,  she  was  always  looking 
at  Lancelot.  It  seemed  to  her  that  there  was 
something  about  him  that  was  wonderful  and 
new.  She  thought  that  she  had  never  seen  a 
man  who  looked  so  noble,  and,  as  he  talked 
with  her  father,  she  thought  that  she  had  never 
heard  a  man  who  spoke  so  well.  They  lived  a 
quiet  life  there  at  Astolat,  and  this  knight  was 
telling  her  father  about  the  court  and  about 
battles  and  tournaments.  He  told  things  that 
were  strange  to  her  about  many  of  the  knights, 
and  she  listened  to  hear  him  say  something 
about  himself,  but  he  did  not  say  anything. 
'  Still,'  she  thought, '  when  I  look  at  him  I  know 
that  he  is  the  best  of  them  all.'  And  she  knew 
so  little  about  knights  that  this  was  really  a  very 
good  guess  for  her  to  make. 

"  But  Lancelot  scarcely  saw  Elaine  at  all. 
He  knew  that  she  was  there,  of  course,  and  he 
knew  that  she  was  young  and  beautiful,  and  he 
knew  that  she  was  serving  them,  as  they  sat 
there.  But  Lancelot  had  seen  many  young 
girls  serving  at  many  tables — yes,  and  a  good 
many  of  them  had  fallen  in  love  with  him,  too, 


The  Boat  on  the  River  115 

before  this  one,  with  or  without  his  knowing  it. 
And  Lancelot  asked  the  old  man : '  Have  you  any 
plain  shield  here  that  you  could  lend  to  me  for 
this  tournament  ?  I  have  told  you  that  I  do  not 
want  to  be  known  at  Camelot,  but  every  knight 
would  know  my  shield,  if  I  should  carry  my 
own.'  And  when  she  heard  that,  Elaine  thought : 
'  He  is  some  famous  knight,  I  knew  he  was ! ' 

"  And  the  old  man  answered  :  '  Here  are  my 
two  sons,  Torre  and  Lavaine ;  they  are  both 
new  knights  and  their  shields  are  plain  and 
blank.  It  may  be  that  Lavaine  will  like  to  go 
and  see  this  tournament,  but  Torre  cannot  go, 
for  he  has  a  wound  that  is  not  well  yet.  You 
can  have  his  shield.' 

"  '  And  may  I  leave  my  own  shield  here,'  said 
Lancelot,  '  till  I  come  back  ? ' 

"  '  Surely,'  said  the  old  man,  '  Elaine  will  take 
good  care  of  it  for  you.' 

"  And  when  she  heard  that,  Elaine  blushed 
from  her  forehead  down  to  her  throat,  and  she 
stood  still  and  gazed  at  Lancelot,  and  he  looked 
up  at  her  and  said  :  '  If  she  will  do  that  for  me 
I  shall  be  very  grateful.' 

"  Lavaine  had  been  listening  to  all  that  Lance- 
lot said,  almost  as  much  as  his  sister,  and  now 
he  said :  '  Father,  if  this  knight  will  let  me, 
might  I  not  ride  with  him  to  the  tournament 
and  see  the  knights,  and  perhaps  try  a  joust 
with  one  of  them  ? ' 


1 16     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  'No,  no,'  said  his  father,  '  it  would  trouble 
the  knight  too  much  to  have  such  a  boy  with 
him.' 

" '  It  would  not  trouble  me  at  all,'  said  Lance- 
lot ;  '  let  him  come.  He  shall  see  everything, 
and  if  he  wants  to  joust  I  will  advise  him  and 
help  him  all  I  can.  It  would  be  a  poor  re- 
turn for  your  kindness  to  me  to  do  less  than 
that.' 

"  Then  Elaine,  although  she  scarcely  dared 
to  speak  to  Lancelot,  said  :  '  Sir  Knight,  if  I  am 
to  keep  your  shield,  could  you  not  wear  some 
token  of  mine  at  the  tournament?' 

" '  My  child,'  said  Lancelot,  '  I  have  never 
done  that  for  any  lady,  and  it  is  against  my  rule.' 
And  then  he  thought  again :  '  All  my  friends 
know  that  I  never  wear  a  token  of  any  lady, 
and,  if  I  do  it  now,  it  will  be  all  the  harder  for 
them  to  know  me.'  So  he  said :  '  Very  well, 
then,  I  will  wear  something  for  you  ;  what  is  it? ' 

"  And  Elaine  blushed  again  with  happiness, 
and  she  went  away  and  brought  him  a  sleeve 
of  red  silk,  all  embroidered  over  with  pearls. 
And  Lancelot  bound  it  on  his  helmet.  Then 
they  all  went  to  bed,  and  in  the  morning  Lance- 
lot and  Lavaine  rode  away  from  Astolat  to- 
gether and  came  here  to  Camelot.  And  Elaine 
took  Lancelot's  shield  to  her  own  chamber,  and 
from  the  tower  of  the  castle  she  watched  Lance- 
lot and  her  brother  till  they  were  out  of  sight. 


The  Boat  on  the  River  1 1 7 

"  I  don't  see  why  I  should  tell  you  about  the 
tournament.  I  have  told  you  about  such  things 
so  many  times  that  you  know  how  the  knights 
fought,  and  I  am  sure  you  do  not  care  to  hear 
it  again.  But  I  will  tell  you  that  Lancelot 
came  to  the  tournament  and  nobody  knew  him, 
that  he  did  better  than  any  other  knight  there, 
that  Lavaine  did  well,  too,  for  so  new  a  knight, 
and  that  Lancelot  at  last  got  a  dreadful  wound. 

"  Then  he  called  to  Lavaine  to  follow  him 
and  they  rode  away.  Lancelot  could  scarcely 
sit  on  his  horse,  but  they  rode  a  little  way  from 
Camelot  to  a  place  that  Lancelot  knew,  where 
a  hermit  lived.  The  hermit  had  been  a  knight 
of  the  Round  Table  long  ago,  and  when  he  saw 
Lancelot  he  knew  him,  and  he  took  him  into 
his  cell  and  took  off  his  armor  and  dressed  his 
wound  and  did  all  that  he  could  to  help  him. 
And  Lancelot  was  there  with  the  hermit  for  a 
long  time,  and  Lavaine  stayed  with  him. 

"  Now  when  the  tournament  was  over  the 
King  and  all  the  knights  wondered  what  had 
become  of  the  knight  who  had  worn  the  red 
sleeve,  with  the  pearls,  on  his  helmet.  He  had 
done  better  than  any  of  them  and  the  King 
wanted  to  find  him,  so  that  he  could  give  him 
the  prize.  Some  of  the  knights  had  seen  that 
he  was  wounded,  but  none  of  them  had  seen 
which  way  he  went.  Then  Gawain  said  that 
he  would  hunt  for  him,  but  he  rode  all  around 


n8     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

Camelot  and  could  not  find  him,  and  then  he 
went  back  to  the  King  and  told  him  that  he 
feared  that  the  knight  who  wore  the  red  sleeve 
was  dead. 

"  So  they  all  went  back  to  Westminster.  And 
at  night  Gawain  came  to  Astolat  and  to  the 
castle  of  old  Sir  Bernard.  And  as  soon  as  he 
and  his  son  and  his  daughter  heard  that  Gawain 
had  come  from  the  tournament  at  Camelot,  they 
asked  him  to  tell  them  all  about  it  and  what 
had  been  done  there  and  who  had  won  the 
prize.  'The  prize  was  won,'  he  said,  'by  a 
knight  whom  nobody  knew,  and  he  carried  a 
plain  shield  and  wore  a  red  sleeve,  with  pearls, 
on  his  helmet.  I  never  saw  a  knight  joust 
better,  but  he  went  away  before  the  tourna- 
ment was  over  and  afterwards  he  could  not  be 
found.' 

"  Elaine  was  trembling  with  happiness  that 
her  knight  had  proved  the  best  of  them  all. 
'  We  know  him,'  she  cried  ;  '  he  was  here  with 
us ;  it  was  my  sleeve  that  he  wore,  and  he  is  the 
knight  that  I  love.  I  knew  that  he  was  the  best 
of  knights ! ' 

"  '  You  know  him  ?  '  said  Gawain.  '  Then 
tell  me  who  he  was,  so  that  I  may  tell  the  King.' 

"  Then  Elaine  told  him  that  she  did  not  know 
his  name,  and  she  told  him  all  that  she  did 
know  about  him,  how  he  had  come  there  and 
how  he  had  promised  to  wear  her  sleeve,  and 


The  Boat  on  the  River  119 

how  he  had  taken  her  brother's  shield  and  had 
left  his  own  with  her. 

"  '  Will  you  let  me  see  his  shield,  then  ?  '  Ga- 
wain  asked.  '  I  know  so  many  shields  that  I 
might  tell  who  he  was  by  that.' 

"  So  Elaine  brought  the  shield  and  showed  it 
to  Gawain,  and  said  :  '  do  you  know  the  knight 
by  this?' 

"  '  Yes,  yes,'  said  Gawain,  '  indeed,  indeed,  I 
know  him  ;  I  have  known  him  for  many  years, 
and  he  is  the  best  knight  of  the  world.  He  is 
Sir  Lancelot  of  the  Lake.' 

"  And  when  she  heard  this,  Elaine  could  not 
say  anything,  but  could  only  stand  before  Ga- 
wain, blushing  and  trembling  again,  that  the 
great  Sir  Lancelot  had  worn  her  token  at  the 
tournament. 

"  '  But  I  fear,'  said  Gawain,  '  that  we  must  all 
be  sad  for  this,  for  the  knight  who  wore  that 
red  sleeve  with  the  pearls  got  a  dreadful  wound, 
and  now  he  may  be  dead  or  dying.' 

"  Then  Elaine  begged  her  father  to  let  her  go 
to  find  Lancelot.  And  he  saw  that  she  loved 
him  so  much  that  it  would  be  better  for  her  to 
go  and  try  to  find  him  and  help  him,  if  he  needed 
her,  than  to  stay  at  home  and  fret  about  him, 
not  knowing  whether  he  was  alive  or  dead. 
And  so  Elaine  left  Astolat  to  seek  for  Lancelot. 
She  went  first  toward  Camelot,  and  before  she 
reached  the  city  she  met  her  brother,  Lavaine. 


I2O     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

He  did  not  see  her  at  first,  but  she  called  to 
him,  and  she  was  in  such  haste  that  she  would 
not  wait  to  tell  him  how  their  father  was,  or 
why  she  had  come,  but  asked  him  at  once  where 
Sir  Lancelot  was. 

"  '  How  do  you  know,'  he  said,  '  that  he  is  Sir 
Lancelot  ?  ' 

" '  It  was  Sir  Gawain  that  told  us,'  she  an- 
swered ;  '  he  came  to  Astolat  and  saw  his  shield 
and  knew  it.  Where  is  he  ?  ' 

" '  In  a  hermitage,  not  far  from  here.' 

"  '  Then  he  is  not  dead  ? ' 

" '  No,'  said  Lavaine,  '  he  was  wounded  and 
almost  killed,  but  the  hermit  is  a  skilful  man 
and  knows  what  to  do  with  wounds,  and  he 
hopes  that  he  will  live.' 

"  '  Take  me  to  him,  then,'  said  Elaine. 

"  So  Lavaine  led  her  to  the  hermit's  cell. 
And  when  she  saw  Lancelot  lying  there,  with 
his  face  thin  and  white,  his  eyes  large  and  dark, 
and  all  his  strength  gone  from  him,  she  ran  to 
him  and  fell  upon  her  knees  beside  his  bed  and 
hid  her  face  in  the  pillow,  and  for  a  few  mo- 
ments she  could  not  see  or  speak  or  move. 
Then  she  rose  and  looked  at  him  again  and  put 
her  hand  on  his  forehead,  and  then  she  went 
and  spoke  to  the  hermit  and  at  last  she  came 
and  sat  down  beside  Lancelot.  And  after  that 
she  scarcely  left  the  cell  till  he  was  well,  and  in 
all  the  weary  days  that  passed  no  one  ever  saw 


The  Boat  on  the  River  121 

her  tremble  or  shed  a  tear,  and  she  never  slept 
when  Lancelot  needed  her,  but  she  was  always 
there  to  nurse  him  and  care  for  him  and  help 
the  hermit  to  cure  him,  and  if  he  ever  smiled 
at  her  or  called  her  by  her  name  or  reached  out 
his  hand  and  touched  hers  she  was  happy. 

"  But  Gawain  had  gone  back  to  the  court 
and  had  told  the  King  and  all  the  rest  that  the 
knight  who  wore  the  red  sleeve  was  Lancelot. 
And  then  Bors  had  set  off  to  find  him  too. 
And  Lancelot  knew  that  Bors  would  come  to 
find  him  and  he  told  Lavaine  to  watch  for  him 
in  the  town,  and  so  he  was  soon  brought  to  the 
cell.  And  when  he  and  Lancelot  had  talked 
for  a  little  while  and  Lancelot  had  asked  him 
about  the  King  and  the  Queen  and  all  who 
were  at  court,  Bors  said  :  '  Is  this  girl  whom  I 
see  about  you  the  one  whom  they  call  Elaine  of 
Astolat  ? ' 

"'Yes,'  said  Lancelot,  'and  I  cannot  make 
her  go  away.  I  tell  her  that  she  keeps  herself 
here  too  close,  but  she  will  not  rest  or  leave  me.' 

" '  Why  should  she  leave  you  ?  '  said  Bors. 
'  She  loves  you,  they  say,  and  here  she  proves 
it ;  why  can  you  not  love  her  too  ?  ' 

"  '  No,'  Lancelot  answered,  '  I  wish  that  it 
could  be,  but  it  never  can.  I  shall  be  grateful 
to  her  always,  she  has  done  so  much  for  me, 
and  I  shall  always  be  her  knight,  but  I  can  do 
no  more. ' 


122     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  '  It  is  for  you  alone  to  say, '  said  Bors,  '  but 
I  am  sorry  for  her  and  for  you  too.' 

"  They  had  spoken  low,  but  Elaine  was  near 
and  she  could  not  help  hearing  a  part  of  what 
they  said.  When  Bors  stole  a  glance  at  her  he 
saw  that  her  face  was  white,  but  there  were  no 
tears  in  her  eyes,  and  when  there  was  anything 
for  her  to  do  for  Lancelot  she  did  it  just  as  be- 
fore, and,  just  as  before,  she  never  wanted  to 
sleep  or  to  be  away  from  him. 

"  So  Lancelot  grew  slowly  stronger,  and  after 
a  long  time  he  could  sit  upon  a  horse  again, 
and  at  last  the  hermit  told  him  that  he  needed 
no  more  of  his  care.  Then  it  was  agreed  that 
Lancelot  and  Bors  and  Elaine  and  Lavaine 
should  ride  together  to  Astolat.  There  Lance- 
lot was  to  rest  and  get  his  shield,  which  was 
still  there,  and  then  go  on  with  Bors  and  La- 
vaine to  Westminster.  So  they  came  to  Asto- 
lat and  spent  the  night,  and  in  the  morning 
Lancelot,  Bors,  and  Lavaine  were  ready  to  ride 
on  their  way.  Then  Lancelot  said  to  Elaine  : 
'You  have  done  more  for  me  than  I  can  ever 
repay.  I  shall  never  forget  you  and  always  and 
everywhere  that  I  go  I  shall  be  your  knight, 
and  anything  that  I  can  ever  do  for  you  I  will 
do  gladly.'  And  Elaine  knew  that  Lancelot 
could  never  do  the  one  thing  that  she  wished 
him  to  do  for  her — to  love  her. 

"  And  after  they  were  gone  her  father  saw 


The  Boat  on  the  River  123 

that  she  grew  paler  and  thinner,  day  by  day. 
Her  father  and  her  brother  Torre  tried  to 
amuse  her  and  cheer  her  and  make  her  think 
less  of  Lancelot,  but  she  thought  of  him  all  day, 
and  when  she  slept  she  dreamed  of  him.  She 
did  not  sleep  much.  Every  morning,  before 
the  sun  rose,  she  was  up  and  was  looking  out 
from  the  tower.  Sometimes  she  looked  away 
toward  London,  where  Lancelot  was,  or  where 
she  thought  that  he  was,  and  sometimes  she 
would  look  away  toward  Camelot,  where  she 
had  been  with  him.  But  at  last  she  could  not 
get  up  to  look  out  from  her  tower  any  more. 
She  could  not  leave  her  bed,  but  she  lay  there 
awake  all  day  and  much  of  the  night ;  she 
talked  with  her  father  or  her  brother  a  little, 
and  for  the  rest  of  the  time  she  thought  and 
dreamed  of  Lancelot.  And  one  day  she  told 
her  father  that  she  knew  that  she  should  live 
for  only  a  little  while  more.  '  And  now, '  she 
said,  '  you  must  write  a  letter,  just  as  I  shall 
tell  you.  And  when  I  am  dead,  dress  me  the 
best  you  can  and  lay  me  on  a  couch  and  put 
this  letter  in  my  hand.  Then  put  the  couch, 
and  me  upon  it,  into  a  boat,  and  let  the  boat  be 
rowed  down  the  river  to  Westminster,  where 
Lancelot  and  the  King  and  the  Queen  are. ' 

"  All  this  she  made  her  father  promise  to 
do.  Then  she  told  him  what  to  write  for  her 
in  the  letter,  and  a  little  while  after  that  she 


1 24     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

died.  And  her  father  did  all  that  he  had 
promised. 

"  One  day  King  Arthur  and  Queen  Guine- 
vere and  Sir  Lancelot  stood  at  a  window  of  the 
palace  at  Westminster,  looking  out  upon  the 
Thames.  And  there  they  saw  a  little  boat,  all 
covered  over  with  black  and  purple  silk,  and 
with  only  one  man  to  row  it.  And  the  boat 
came  straight  on  till  it  touched  the  shore  near 
the  palace.  'It  is  a  strange-looking  boat,'  said 
the  King  ;  '  let  us  go  down  and  see  what  it  is.' 

"  So  they  all  went  down  and  looked  into  the 
boat,  and  there  they  saw  the  dead  Elaine,  lying 
on  a  couch  covered  with  silk  and  cloth  of  gold. 
Then  the  Queen  saw  the  letter  in  her  hand  and 
took  it  and  opened  it  and  saw  that  it  was  to 
Lancelot.  But  when  she  gave  it  to  him  Lance- 
lot gave  it  to  the  King  and  asked  him  to  read 
it.  And  the  letter  said  ?  '  To  the  best  knight  of 
the  world,  Sir  Lancelot  of  the  Lake  :  I  who 
bring  you  this  letter  was  Elaine  of  Astolat.  I 
have  died,  Sir  Lancelot,  because  you  could  not 
love  me.  Now  I  beg  that  you  will  pray  for 
my  soul  and  will  bury  me  as  I  ought  to  be 
buried.' 

"  When  the  King  had  read  this  letter  none 
of  them  spoke  at  first.  Then  the  Queen  said  : 
'  Lancelot,  could  you  not  do  her  some  little 
kindness,  to  make  her  sorrow  less,  so  that  she 
might  live  ? ' 


The  Boat  on  the  River  125 

"  '  She  would  have  nothing  but  my  love,'  said 
Lancelot.  '  I  could  not  give  her  that  if  I 
would,  for  true  love,  such  as  she  should  have 
had,  must  come  of  itself,  and  cannot  be  com- 
pelled.' 

"  So  the  next  day  Elaine  was  buried  as  if  she 
had  been  a  queen,  and  Lancelot  and  the  King 
and  the  Queen  and  the  knights  of  the  Round 
Table  were  there  to  see  it  done.  And  the  boat 
that  had  brought  her  down  the  river  went  back 
up  the  river  toward  Astolat." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   GIANTS'  DANCE 

INSTEAD  of  going  from  Winchester  straight 
back  to  London,  we  took  a  little  run  across  to 
Salisbury.  It  was  not  so  much  that  we  wanted 
to  see  Salisbury,  though  it  is  a  pretty  place  and 
has  a  fine  cathedral,  but  I  wanted  to  go  to 
Stonehenge.  To  look  at  Stonehenge,  I  think, 
brings  one  nearer  to  the  history  and  the  legend 
of  ancient  Britain  than  anything  else  that  I  have 
ever  seen.  And  if  Stonehenge  were  nothing 
at  all  it  would  still  be  worth  going  to,  for  the 
ride  to  it  from  Salisbury  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
in  all  England.  There  is  no  such  remarkable 
scenery,  perhaps,  as  is  to  be  found  in  many  an- 
other place,  but  on  that  day  when  we  rode  out 
there  the  fields  were  fairly  blazing  with  flow- 
ers, red  and  yellow  and  purple,  and  the  little 
gardens  were  almost  too  full  of  them  to  hold 
them  all  without  spilling.  It  was  just  a  free, 
open,  country  ride,  with  everything  around 
126 


The   Giants    Dance 

looking  peaceful  and  sweet  and  beautiful 
happy. 

And  when  you  take  that  ride,  if  you  trust  to 
a  driver  who  knows  the  way  and  where  you 
ought  to  go,  he  will  bring  you  soon  to  Old  Sa- 
rum.  It  is  a  hill,  with  a  thick  double  wall  of 
earth  and  a  ditch  around  it,  and  it  was  a  Ro- 
man town  once.  Perhaps  it  was  a  British  town 
or  stronghold  before  that.  It  reminded  us  a 
little  of  Cadbury  Castle,  but  it  is  a  good  deal 
bigger.  It  had  a  cathedral  in  it  once,  but  for 
some  reason  or  other  the  people  began  to  get 
tired  of  living  in  it  and  moved  down  and  made 
the  town  of  Salisbury,  and  there  a  new  cathe- 
dral was  built,  and  Old  Sarum  came  to  be  noth- 
ing at  all  any  more  but  a  great  hilltop,  with  its 
walls  and  its  ditch  around  it. 

From  Old  Sarum  we  went  on  to  Amesbury. 
I  told  the  driver  that  I  wanted  to  stay  there  for 
a  little  while.  I  think  he  meant  to  make  a  little 
stay,  whether  I  had  mentioned  it  or  not,  for  he 
got  ready  to  do  it  with  less  explanation  than  it 
usually  takes  to  get  a  driver  to  do  anything  he 
is  not  used  to.  He  stopped  at  the  little  hotel 
and  gave  the  horse  a  drink,  and  we  gave  him 
enough  to  get  something  to  drink  for  himself. 
Then  we  walked  on  toward  the  church  and  told 
him  to  follow  us  in  a  little  while. 

We  had  walked  about  in  the  churchyard  for 
only  a  minute  when  we  saw  a  man  coming 


128     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

toward  us.  He  proved  to  be  the  vicar,  who  had 
seen  us  and  was  coming  to  show  us  the  church. 
He  did  show  it  to  us  and  told  us  a  great  many 
interesting  things  about  it  which  I  cannot  re- 
member well  enough  to  repeat  them  here.  But 
I  do  remember  that  it  was  so  old  that  I  de- 
cided that  there  must  have  been  a  church  here 
in  King  Arthur's  time,  and  that  perhaps  some 
part  of  this  very  one  was  standing  then. 

"But  where  is  the  old  abbey?"  I  asked. 
"  Are  there  not  some  ruins  of  that  left  ?  " 

We  were  outside  the  church  now  and  were 
looking  about  at  the  fields  and  the  trees.  "  Oh, 
no,"  the  vicar  said,  "  there  is  nothing  left  of  the 
abbey  now.  It  was  very  near  where  that  large 
house  is  now.  That  is  the  house  of  Sir  Edmund 
Antrobus.  We  can  come  nearer  and  look  at  it, 
if  you  like."  So  we  went  nearer  and  looked  at  it, 
and  it  was  a  handsome  house,  and  then  we  went 
and  stood  on  a  little  bridge  across  the  Avon.  It 
was  a  shady  place  and  the  water  was  clear,  so 
that  we  could  see  the  trout  swimming  in  it,  and 
we  looked  down  the  river  under  a  green  arch 
of  trees  that  grew  on  the  sides  of  the  stream 
and  sent  their  branches  to  meet  above  it.  "  I 
should  like  you  to  remember  this  place,"  I  said, 
"  because  Queen  Guinevere  lived  here  for  a 
long  time.  It  is  not  time  yet  for  me  to  tell  you 
how  or  why,  but  I  will  tell  you  when  the  time 
comes,  and  till  then  I  want  you  to  remember 


The  Giants    Dance  129 

how  the  place  looks.  Remember  these  fields 
and  this  river  and  these  trees.  I  don't  know, 
of  course,  whether  they  looked  the  same  then, 
but  they  may  have  been  not  so  very  different. 
So  think  of  Queen  Guinevere  sometimes  stand- 
ing on  a  bridge,  just  as  we  are  now,  or  on  the 
bank  of  the  river,  and  looking  down  into  just 
such  clear  water  and  up  at  just  such  cool, 
green,  spreading  trees.  Remember  that  she 
lived  over  there  where  Sir  Edmund  Antrobus 
lives  now,  and  that  she  walked  many  a  morn- 
ing, it  is  likely,  across  these  very  fields,  to  a 
church  that  stood  where  the  church  is  now. 
That  is  all.  Remember  it  till  we  come  to  the 
story  about  it." 

By  the  time  we  came  out  to  the  road  the 
driver  was  waiting  for  us  and  wondering  what 
we  had  found  to  keep  us  so  long.  We  got 
into  the  carriage  and  went  on  again,  and  noth. 
ing  happened  till  we  got  to  Stonehenge.  Now 
I  know  that  you  don't  want  me  to  describe 
Stonehenge  to  you.  If  you  want  to  know  a 
great  deal  more  than  you  do  about  it,  you 
can  find  it  in  a  good  many  big  and  learned 
books.  What  I  wish  I  could  do  would  be  to 
make  you  see  it,  and  I  cannot  do  that.  It  is 
not  much  to  tell  about,  but  it  is  a  wonderful 
thing  to  see.  It  seems  to  me  to  mean  so 
much,  standing  there,  so  lonely,  in  the  middle 
of  Salisbury  Plain — that  great  circle  of  half- 
9 


130     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

smoothed  stones — grand,  sad,  silent,  older  than 
history — a  solid,  real,  noble  thing,  left  to  us 
from  a  time  out  of  which  we  have  little  else 
but  fairy  tales.  It  was  a  huge  circle  of  stones 
once,  square  pillars  set  on  end  and  big  blocks 
laid  across  them.  Now  many  of  them  are 
lying  on  the  ground,  where  they  fell  so  long 
ago  that  some  of  them  are  half  buried  in  it. 
Some  way  off  from  the  circle  is  another  tall 
stone,  that  they  say  the  devil  once  threw  at  a 
monk.  He  was  such  a  good  man  that  the  devil 
could  not  hurt  him,  but  it  struck  his  foot  and 
took  the  print  of  his  heel,  and  the  print  is  there 
now,  to  prove  the  story.  In  the  morning  of  the 
day  of  the  summer  when  the  sun  goes  highest 
in  the  sky,  people  come  here  to  see  it  rise.  I 
have  never  been  here  then,  but  they  say  that 
on  that  morning,  if  you  stand  over  across  the 
circle  and  look  through  one  of  the  great  stone 
gateways,  you  will  see  the  sun  rise  exactly 
over  the  point  of  this  stone  that  the  devil 
threw  at  the  monk. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  I  said,  "  that  I  cannot  tell  you 
the  history  of  Stonehenge,  but  I  can  tell  you 
the  story  of  it,  if  you  care  to  hear  it." 

To  be  sure  Helen  cared  to  hear  it. 

"  We  shall  have  to  go  back,  then,"  I  said,  "  to 
a  time  long  before  King  Arthur  was  born.  Lud 
was  the  King  of  England.  It  was  for  him  that 
London  was  named.  Perhaps  the  two  names 


The  Giants    Dance  131 

do  not  sound  very  much  alike  to  you,  but  you 
know  names  will  get  a  good  deal  twisted,  the 
best  you  can  do.  Lud  had  a  brother  named 
Levelys,  who  had  gone  over  to  France  and 
married  a  princess  and  had  become  King  of 
France.  And  about  that  time  King  Lud  and 
his  people  began  to  have  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  There  were  three  things  that  troubled 
them  especially.  The  first  was  a  race  of  people 
called  the  Coranians.  I  don't  know  where 
these  Coranians  came  from  or  what  they  did  to 
make  themselves  so  troublesome,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that,  for  some  reason  or  other,  they 
did  not  get  on  well  with  Lud's  people.  And 
the  worst  of  it  was  that  there  seemed  to  be  no 
way  to  get  rid  of  them.  The  reason  was  that 
they  had  such  good  ears.  For  they  could  hear 
anything  that  was  said  anywhere  on  the  island, 
no  matter  how  softly  it  was  spoken,  if  the  wind 
was  the  right  way.  And  so  no  plan  against 
them  could  ever  be  talked  over  without  their 
finding  out  all  about  it. 

"  And  the  second  trouble  was  a  noise,  a  hor- 
rible scream,  that  was  heard  in  every  house  in 
England  on  the  eve  of  every  May  Day.  It  was 
so  loud  and  so  fearful  that  it  frightened  people 
half  to  death,  and  it  went  through  them  like  a 
knife,  and  it  chilled  their  blood  and  filled  them 
with  horror,  and  some  of  them  went  mad  be- 
cause of  it. 


132     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  And  the  third  trouble  was  that  the  King 
never  could  keep  anything  to  eat  in  the  house. 
No  matter  how  much  provision  there  was  at 
night,  it  was  all  gone  the  next  morning,  and  no- 
body could  find  out  what  became  of  it. 

"  Now,  it  occurred  to  King  Lud  that  his 
brother  Levelys  was  a  very  wise  man,  and  that 
it  would  be  worth  while  to  go  to  France  and 
see  him  and  ask  him  if  he  could  tell  what  ought 
to  be  done  about  all  these  troubles.  So  he  got 
ready  a  fleet,  very  quietly,  so  that  the  Corani- 
ans  should  know  as  little  as  possible  about 
it,  and  sailed  toward  France.  And  when  his 
brother  heard  that  he  was  coming  he  got  ready 
a  fleet  too,  and  sailed  from  France  to  meet  him. 
When  they  met  they  were  very  glad  to  see 
each  other,  and  they  got  ready  to  talk  about 
King  Lud's  troubles.  Levelys  was  so  wise  that 
he  knew  just  what  Lud  had  come  for,  without 
being  told,  so  he  tried  to  find  a  way  for  them  to 
talk  without  the  Coranians  hearing  them.  And 
he  had  a  horn  made  of  brass,  and  he  thought 
that  if  they  talked  through  that  they  could  not 
be  heard  even  by  such  ears  as  the  Coranians 
had. 

"  But  when  they  began  to  talk  through  it 
they  found  that  whatever  either  of  them  said 
into  it  nothing  would  come  out  but  angry 
and  hostile  words.  Then  Levelys  knew  that  a 
demon  had  got  into  the  horn.  So  he  poured 


The  Giants    Dance  133 

wine  through  the  horn  and  drove  the  demon 
out.  Then  they  found  that  they  could  hear 
through  the  horn  much  better.  Levelys  talked 
through  the  horn  and  told  Lud  that  he  would 
give  him  some  insects  that  would  kill  the  Co- 
ranians.  He  must  put  them  in  water  and  then 
he  must  call  all  the  people  of  the  island  to- 
gether and  scatter  the  water  over  them.  It 
would  kill  all  the  Coranians,  he  said,  and  it 
would  not  harm  Lud's  own  people. 

"  As  for  the  second  trouble,  that  of  the  dread- 
ful noise,  Levelys  said  that  it  was  caused  by 
two  dragons,  that  were  fighting.  '  When  you 
go  home,'  he  said,  '  you  must  measure  your 
island  and  find  the  exact  middle  of  it.  There 
you  must  dig  a  pit,  and  in  the  pit  you  must  put 
a  cauldron  of  the  best  mead,  and  you  must 
cover  the  top  of  the  cauldron  with  satin.  Then 
you  must  watch  till  you  see  the  two  dragons 
flying  in  the  air  and  fighting  together.  After  a 
time  they  will  grow  weary  with  fighting  and 
they  will  drop  down  upon  the  satin  and  sink 
into  the  cauldron.  Then  they  will  drink  all 
the  mead  that  there  is  in  it  and  go  to  sleep. 
After  that  you  must  fold  the  covering  of  satin 
around  them  and  bury  them  in  the  strongest 
place  that  you  have. 

" '  And  the  third  trouble,'  Levelys  went  on, 
'  the  disappearing  of  all  your  food,  is  caused  by 
a  great  enchanter,  who  comes  and  carries  it 


134     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

away.  And  the  reason  that  nobody  who  watches 
ever  sees  him  is  that  he  casts  spells  over  all  of 
them  and  makes  them  sleep.  But  you  yourself 
must  watch,  and  you  must  have  a  cauldron 
filled  with  cold  water  beside  you,  and  when  you 
feel  like  sleeping  you  must  get  into  the  caul- 
dron and  the  cold  water  will  keep  you  awake.' 

"  When  he  had  heard  all  this  Lud  went  home. 
And  the  first  thing  that  he  did  was  to  call  all 
the  people  together,  as  his  brother  had  told 
him.  Then  he  sprinkled  the  water  with  the  in- 
sects in  it  over  all  the  people  and  it  killed  all 
the  Coranians  and  did  no  harm  to  his  own  peo- 
ple. 

"  Then  he  measured  the  island  and  found  that 
the  very  middle  of  it  was  in  Oxford.  You  can 
measure  it  yourself,  on  the  map,  if  you  want  to 
find  out  whether  the  middle  of  it  is  really  in 
Oxford.  I  don't  say  that  it  is,  only  that  that 
was  what  Lud  found.  But  I  suppose  he  must 
have  been  right  about  it,  for  the  rest  of  the  ex- 
periment worked  perfectly.  That  is  to  say,  he 
dug  the  pit  and  put  the  cauldron  in  the  pit  and 
the  mead  in  the  cauldron,  and  the  satin  over 
the  cauldron,  and  waited  to  see  the  fight  of  the 
dragons.  And  the  dragons  came  and  fought 
and  fell  down  into  the  cauldron  and  drank  up 
the  mead  and  slept,  and  Lud  covered  them  with 
the  satin  and  buried  them  in  Snowdon,  which  is 
a  great  mountain  in  Wales.  I  am  sorry  that 


The  Giants    Dance  135 

we  cannot  go  to  Snowdon  at  present,  for  I 
know  that  it  must  be  worth  seeing. 

"And  finally  Lud  made  such  a  great  feast 
that  there  was  sure  to  be  a  good  deal  of  it  left, 
and  then  he  sat  up  to  see  what  would  become 
of  it.  He  put  on  his  armor  and  sat  down  and 
waited,  and  by  and  by  he  began  to  hear  such 
sweet  music  that  he  could  scarcely  help  going 
to  sleep.  But  he  got  into  the  cauldron  of  cold 
water  which  he  had  ready,  and  that  kept  him 
awake.  And  at  last  there  came  a  great  man, 
dressed  all  in  armor  and  carrying  a  big  basket. 
He  began  to  put  the  food  into  the  basket  and 
Lud  began  to  wonder  how  he  could  do  it,  for 
it  seemed  to  him  that  there  was  a  great  deal 
more  of  it  than  the  basket  could  ever  hold. 
But  the  man  put  it  all  in  and  then  started  to 
go  away  with  it.  Then  Lud  stopped  him  and 
made  him  fight  with  him.  And  Lud  beat  him 
and  would  not  grant  him  mercy  till  he  prom- 
ised to  be  Lud's  servant  and  to  restore  the 
value  of  all  that  he  had  ever  taken  from  him. 

"  Now  we  come  to  the  second  part  of  the 
story.  To  get  to  it  we  have  to  come  down  a 
good  many  years,  to  the  time  when  Merlin,  the 
great  magician  and  wise  man  of  King  Arthur's 
court,  was  a  boy.  We  almost  always  think  of 
him  as  an  old  man,  with  white  hair  and  a  long, 
white  beard.  But  he  was  a  boy  once,  just  like 
anybody  else.  And  a  wonderful  thing  about  it 


136     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

was  that  he  knew  just  as  much  more  than  any- 
body else  in  the  world  when  he  was  a  boy  as  he 
did  when  he  was  an  old  man. 

"  There  was  a  King  of  England  named  Vor- 
tigern.  He  had  no  right  to  be  King  of  England, 
but  he  was.  King  Constantine  had  died  not 
long  ago,  and  had  left  three  sons.  They  were 
Constans,  Pendragon,  and  Uther.  Vortigern, 
being  very  powerful  at  that  time,  had  had  Con- 
stans made  King  and  he  himself  had  become  his 
chief  adviser.  Then  he  had  contrived  to  get 
Constans  killed  and  had  been  crowned  as  King 
himself.  Pendragon  and  Uther  were  too  young 
then  to  rule,  and  those  who  had  the  care  of 
them  had  fled  with  them  to  France,  because 
they  knew  that  Vortigern  would  kill  them  too, 
if  they  stayed  in  England.  And  in  France  the 
princes  lived  and  grew  up  to  be  young  men. 

"  While  they  were  doing  that,  Vortigern  was 
having  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in  trying  to  govern 
the  kingdom  that  did  not  belong  to  him.  He 
did  it  so  badly  that  the  people  turned  against 
him,  and  he  had  many  enemies  from  abroad  be- 
sides. At  last  he  called  his  wise  men  together 
and  they  told  him  that  there  was  nothing  left 
for  him  to  do  but  to  build  the  strongest  tower 
he  could,  in  the  safest  place  he  could,  and  then 
stay  in  it  and  try  to  keep  himself  from  his  ene- 
mies. 

"  So  Vortigern  hunted  all  over  the  island  to 


The    Giants    Dance  137 

find  the  best  place  to  build  his  tower,  and  he 
decided  that  the  best  place  was  Snowdon.  But 
when  his  workmen  began  to  build  there  was 
more  trouble.  No  matter  how  much  they  built 
in  a  day,  it  all  fell  down  in  the  night,  and  the 
next  day  they  had  to  begin  all  over  again. 
When  that  had  gone  on  for  awhile  Vortigern 
called  his  wise  men  together  again  and  asked 
them  what  was  the  matter. 

"  The  wise  men  did  not  know  in  the  least,  but 
they  tried  to  look  wiser  than  they  had  ever 
looked  before  in  their  lives,  and  they  said  that 
in  a  few  days  they  would  find  out.  Then  they 
got  together,  away  from  the  King,  and  talked  it 
all  over  and  tried  to  make  up  their  minds  why 
the  King's  tower  would  not  stand.  I  don't 
know  all  the  absurd  ways  that  they  had  of  think- 
ing that  they  found  out  things,  but  the  one  that 
they  believed  in  the  most  was  studying  the  stars. 
So  they  studied  the  stars  as  hard  as  ever  they 
could,  but  not  a  thing  could  they  find  out  from 
them  about  the  King's  tower  and  why  it  would 
not  stand.  But  they  were  dreadfully  scared  by 
something  else  that  they  thought  they  saw  in 
the  stars.  This  was  that  every  one  of  them 
would  finally  be  brought  to  his  death  by  a  child 
who  never  had  a  father.  Then  one  of  them,  who 
was  a  little  brighter  than  the  others,  said  :  'If  we 
cannot  do  anything  for  the  King,  perhaps  we 
can  do  something  for  ourselves.  Let  us  try  to 


138     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

kill  this  child  who  never  had  a  father,  before 
he  kills  us.  Let  us  tell  the  King  that  we  have 
found  out  from  the  stars  that  his  tower  will 
stand,  if  he  mixes  the  mortar  with  the  blood  of 
a  child  who  never  had  a  father.  Then  he  will 
find  the  child  and  kill  him  and  we  shall  be  safe." 

"  They  all  thought  that  this  was  a  good  plan, 
so  they  went  and  told  the  King  that  he  must 
find  a  child  who  never  had  a  father  and  mix  his 
blood  into  the  mortar.  So  the  King  sent  out 
messengers  in  every  direction  to  hunt  for  a 
child  who  never  had  a  father.  As  I  told  you  at 
first,  Merlin  was  a  child  then,  and  perhaps  you 
remember  that  I  told  you  a  long  time  ago  that 
nobody  ever  knew  who  Merlin's  father  was,  un- 
less, as  some  people  said,  he  was  the  son  of  a 
devil.  Well,  one  day  two  of  Vortigern's  mes- 
sengers came  to  the  town  where  Merlin  lived, 
and  Merlin  and  some  other  children  were  play- 
ing in  the  street. 

"Just  as  the  messengers  came  along  Merlin 
struck  one  of  his  playmates.  The  boy  cried  out 
and  asked  Merlin  how  he  dared  to  strike  him, 
when  he  was  the  son  of  a  great  man  and  when 
Merlin  never  had  any  father.  When  the  mes- 
sengers heard  that,  of  course  they  were  in- 
terested at  once.  They  asked  about  Merlin  and 
they  found  that  the  story  was  indeed  that  this 
boy  never  had  any  father,  so  they  told  him  that 
the  King  wanted  him  and  that  he  must  come 


The  Giants   Dance  139 

with  them.  '  I  am  ready  to  go  with  you,'  Merlin 
said,  '  and  I  am  not  afraid,  though  I  know  that 
the  King  means  to  kill  me.  You  could  never 
have  found  me  if  I  had  not  been  willing  that 
you  should.  I  knew  that  you  were  looking 
for  me  and  I  struck  the  other  boy  so  that  he 
would  say  just  what  he  did,  to  tell  you  that  I 
was  the  child  that  the  King  wanted.  I  shall  not 
let  the  King  kill  me  and  I  shall  tell  him  what 
makes  his  tower  fall  down.' 

"  Then  the  messengers  went  back  to  the  King 
and  took  Merlin  with  them.  When  he  came 
before  the  King  Merlin  said :  '  My  lord,  you 
mean  to  kill  me  because  your  wise  men  have 
told  you  that  my  blood  will  make  your  tower 
stand.  But  they  know  nothing  about  it.  Call 
them  and  let  me  question  them  and  prove  to 
you  that  they  know  nothing  about  it.' 

"  So  the  King  called  his  wise  men  and  Merlin 
said  to  them :  '  What  is  under  the  place  where 
the  King  wants  to  build  his  tower?' 

"  The  wise  men  studied  and  whispered  to- 
gether and  tried  to  look  wiser  than  ever,  but  at 
last  they  had  to  say  that  they  did  not  know 
what  was  under  the  place.  'Then  I  will  tell 
you,'  said  Merlin  ;  '  there  is  water  under  it ;  my 
lord,  have  your  workmen  dig  down  and  see.' 

"  So  the  workmen  were  set  to  digging  and 
after  awhile  they  came  to  the  water.  '  Now 
what  is  under  that  ? '  said  Merlin  to  the  wise  men. 


140     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  And  again  they  could  not  tell.  '  There  are 
two  great  stones  under  it,'  said  Merlin  ;  '  draw 
the  water  off  and  see.' 

"  So  they  drew  off  the  water  and  there  were 
the  stones,  just  as  Merlin  said.  '  Now,'  said 
Merlin  to  the  wise  men,  '  tell  the  King  what  is 
under  these  stones.' 

"  And  the  wise  men,  who  were  getting  pretty 
well  scared  by  this  time,  could  not  tell.  '  There 
are  two  dragons  under  the  stones,'  said  Merlin  ; 
'  one  of  them  is  red  and  the  other  is  white ; 
when  the  stones  are  lifted  they  will  fight  and  the 
red  dragon  will  kill  the  white  one.' 

"  The  wise  men  had  not  another  word  to  say 
and  the  King  told  the  workmen  to  take  up  the 
stones.  They  took  them  up  and,  surely  enough, 
there  were  the  dragons.  And,  just  as  Merlin  had 
said,  they  began  to  fight.  People  were  fond  of 
fights  in  those  days  and  there  surely  never  was 
a  better  one  of  its  kind  than  this.  But  every- 
body who  saw  it  felt  that  it  could  be  seen  better 
a  little  way  off.  They  were  a  good  deal  relieved 
when  Merlin  told  them  that  the  dragons  would 
not  hurt  any  of  them  and  would  only  kill  each 
other.  And  no  doubt  it  was  a  fine  fight  to  look 
at.  The  dragons  were  horrible  creatures,  with 
snaky  bodies  and  wings  like  bats  and  long,  sharp 
teeth  and  claws.  And  they  flew  above  the  heads 
of  the  people  and  struck  at  each  other  with 
their  claws  and  twisted  about  each  other  and 


The  Giants    Dance  141 

tore  with  their  teeth  and  breathed  fire  out  of 
their  mouths,  and  roared  and  shrieked  till  the 
air  shook.  And  at  last  the  red  dragon  killed 
the  white  one,  and  then  he  fell  down  to  the 
ground,  and  in  a  little  while  he  died  too. 

" '  Now,'  said  Merlin,  '  you  can  build  your 
tower  and  it  will  stand.  But  what  is  to  be 
done,'  he  went  on,  '  with  these  men  who  tried 
to  make  you  kill  me  ?  Is  it  not  fair,  my  lord, 
that  you  should  give  them  to  me  and  let  me 
do  whatever  I  like  with  them  ?  ' 

"  '  That  is  fair/  said  the  King  ;  '  take  them  and 
do  with  them  what  you  like.' 

"  Of  course  the  wise  men  were  all  begging 
Merlin  for  mercy  now,  and  telling  him  that  all 
they  did  was  only  because  the  stars  had  told 
them  that  he  was  to  cause  their  death.  '  That 
is  true,'  said  Merlin  ;  '  I  know  that  you  really 
thought  that  you  saw  that  in  the  stars,  but  I 
know  too  that  it  was  only  because  an  evil  spirit 
was  deceiving  you.  He  is  a  spirit  who  hates 
me  and  he  made  you  see  what  you  saw  in 
the  stars  in  the  hope  of  destroying  me.  So 
it  was  not  so  much  your  fault,  and  I  forgive 
you.' 

"  After  that  Vortigern  built  his  tower  and  it 
stood.  But  he  was  not  happy  or  safe  in  it  long. 
The  sons  of  the  old  King  Constantine.Pendragon 
and  Uther,  who  had  been  taken  to  France,  were 
grown  up  by  this  time  and  they  came  over  to 


142     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

England  with  an  army,  to  get  back  from  Vorti- 
gern  the  kingdom  which  belonged  to  them.  To 
make  a  short  story  of  it,  they  captured  Vorti- 
gern's  strong  tower  and  killed  him,  and  then 
Pendragon  was  King  of  England.  But  the 
country  was  not  peaceful  yet.  The  Saxons, 
who  had  come  many  times  before,  came  still 
and  tried  to  conquer  the  Britons.  Then  Merlin 
foretold  that  there  would  be  a  great  battle  on 
Salisbury  Plain.  There,  he  said,  Pendragon 
and  Uther  and  their  army  would  fight  with  the 
Saxons  and  would  beat  them,  but  one  of  the 
brothers  would  be  killed.  He  would  not  say 
which  one,  but  he  said  that  the  one  who  lived 
must  take  his  brother's  name,  besides  his  own, 
and  be  King  of  England,  and  he  must  build  a 
monument  to  his  brother  on  Salisbury  Plain 
that  should  last  forever. 

"  So  the  great  battle  was  fought  on  Salisbury 
Plain,  all  around  where  we  are  now,  and  the 
Saxons  were  beaten.  But  when  it  was  over, 
they  found  that  many  of  the  Britons  had  been 
killed,  and  that  the  King,  Pendragon,  was 
among  them.  So  his  brother  Uther  was  made 
King  and  took  his  name  and  was  called  Uther 
Pendragon.  Then  the  new  King  sent  for  Mer- 
lin and  said  to  him :  '  How  shall  I  build  the 
monument  to  my  brother  on  Salisbury  Plain,  so 
that  it  shall  last  forever?' 

"  And  Merlin  answered :    '  Send  to    Ireland 


The   Giants    Dance  143 

and  get  the  Giants'  Dance,  and  set  it  up  for  a 
monument  to  your  brother.' 

'"What  is  the  Giants'  Dance?'  the  King 
asked. 

"  'It  is  a  circle  of  great  stones,'  Merlin  an- 
swered. '  The  giants  brought  them  long  ago 
from  Africa  and  set  them  .up  in  Ireland.' 

" '  And  how  shall  I  bring  them  here  ? '  the 
King  asked. 

'"Send  ships  and  men  to  get  them,'  Merlin 
answered,  'and  1  will  go  to  show  them  how.' 

"  So  the  ships  were  got  ready  and  Merlin 
crossed  over  with  the  men  into  Ireland.  He 
knew  the  place  to  go,  and  there  stood  the 
Giants'  Dance,  a  great  circle  of  upright  stones, 
with  other  great  stones  lying  across  the  tops 
of  them.  '  Now  see  if  you  can  take  them 
down,'  said  Merlin.  And  they  tried.  They 
brought  timbers  and  ropes  and  made  levers 
and  pulled  and  pushed  and  did  everything  that 
they  could  think  of.  And  they  could  no  more 
move  even  one  of  the  stones  than  they  could 
move  the  mountain  that  they  stood  on.  '  Now 
rest  a  little  while,'  said  Merlin. 

"  Then  Merlin,  all  alone,  walked  about  the 
stones  and  in  and  out  among  them,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  saying  something  or  singing 
something,  but  nobody  could  understand  what 
it  was.  '  Try  again  to  move  them/  he  said. 

"  They  tried  again  and  this  time  it  was  as 


144     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

easy  as  if  the  stones  had  been  bags  filled  with 
air.  They  put  them  on  board  the  ships  and 
they  sailed  back  to  England,  and  Merlin  set 
them  up,  just  as  they  had  been  in  Ireland,  here 
on  Salisbury  Plain,  where  Pendragon  had  been 
killed.  And  afterward,  when  Uther  Pendragon 
died,  he  was  buried  here  at  Stonehenge,  too. 

"  That  is  all  of  the  story  and  here  is  Stone- 
henge to  prove  that  it  is  true.  If  anybody 
cares  to  say  that  this  story  is  not  true,  let  him 
tell  me  how  else  these  stones  came  here.  Let 
him  try  to  tell  me  how  else  they  could  come 
here.  Merlin  told  King  Uther  Pendragon  that 
he  would  build  a  monument  that  should  stand 
forever.  Forever  is  a  long  time.  Many  of  the 
stones  have  fallen  now,  you  see,  but  still  many 
of  them  stand,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  say  that 
Merlin  was  wrong  and  that  this  monument  will 
not  be  here  always.  All  that  we  can  know  is 
that  the  stones,  fallen  or  standing,  are  here 
where  Merlin  put  them,  that  they  still  show  us 
the  place  where  the  battle  was  and  where  Pen- 
dragon  fell,  and  that  the  sun,  on  the  longest 
day  of  the  summer,  still  rises  over  the  one  stone 
away  down  there  and  looks  through  the  gate 
that  Merlin  built,  into  the  wonderful,  old,  mys- 
terious, magic  circle,  where  the  two  kings, 
Pendragon  and  Uther,  are  buried.  And  after 
all,  I  think  that  I  would  rather  not  know  any 
more  about  Stonehenge  than  that." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ON  THE  EDGE  OF  LYONNESSE 

WE  had  meant,  when  Helen's  mother  should 
come  from  Paris,  to  go  back  to  Glastonbury 
and  begin  our  journey  again  where  we  had 
left  off.  But  when  she  came  we  thought  better 
of  it.  We  decided  that,  since  we  were  going 
to  the  Southwest  of  England  again,  we  might 
as  well  go  all  the  way  and  see  the  Land's  End. 
Then,  we  thought,  we  could  go  to  Glastonbury 
just  as  well  on  the  way  back. 

So  it  happened  that  when  Helen's  mother 
was  with  us  again,  we  took  the  longest  railway 
ride  that  we  had  taken  yet,  and  at  the  end  of 
it  we  found  ourselves  in  Penzance.  Penzance 
is  the  place  where  the  pirates  were,  you  know. 
We  had  always  supposed  that  that  was  a  made- 
up  story  and  that  there  never  were  really  any 
pirates  of  Penzance.  But  we  found  that  the 
pirates  were  there  still.  Only  now  they  do 
not  scuttle  ships  any  more,  if  they  ever  did  ; 
10  145 


146     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

they  keep  hotels.  But  that  is  an  unpleasant 
subject. 

We  set  off  the  next  morning  for  a  long  drive 
— which  was  to  be  partly  a  walk — to  the  Land's 
End.  There  were  many  things  that  were 
worth  seeing  before  we  got  to  the  Land's  End, 
or  anywhere  near  it.  First  there  was  the  har- 
bor of  Penzance,  one  of  the  prettiest  that  I  ever 
looked  out  upon.  And  over  on  the  other  side 
of  it,  stately  and  beautiful  against  the  summer 
morning  sky,  stood  St.  Michael's  Mount.  St. 
Michael's  Mount  is  a  cone-shaped  hill,  rising 
high  out  of  the  water,  with  a  castle  on  the  top 
of  it.  It  is  one  of  those  things  that  are  so  pict- 
uresque that  they  surprise  you  when  you  see 
them  in  a  real  scene,  because  they  look  too  per- 
fect to  belong  outside  a  painted  picture. 

"  And  who  do  you  suppose  used  to  live  on  the 
top  of  that  hill  ?  "  I  said.  "  Why,  the  old  giant 
Cormoran,  the  one  whom  Jack  the  Giant-Killer 
knocked  on  the  head  with  his  pickaxe,  the  very 
first  giant  whom  he  killed.  Of  course  I  should 
not  think  of  telling  you  that  story,  at  your  time 
of  life  ;  I  only  tell  you  that  there  is  the  place. 
But  I  might  tell  you  about  another  giant,  and 
let  you  try  to  straighten  out  his  story,  if  you 
like,  better  than  I  can.  Over  across  the  chan- 
nel from  here,  in  France,  there  is  another  St. 
Michael's  Mount.  I  have  never  seen  it,  but  the 
picture  of  it  looks  as  much  like  this  one  as  if  it 


On  the  Edge  of  Lyonnesse         147 

were  its  own  brother.  I  think  that  I  have  told 
you  before  that  the  people  of  old  days  used  to 
think  that  high  hills  belonged  somehow  to  St. 
Michael.  Well,  over  there  on  the  other  St. 
Michael's  Mount  lived  another  giant  with  whom 
King  Arthur  himself  once  had  a  little  tussle. 
The  giant's  name  was  Ryence,  and  he  had  a 
mantle  trimmed  with  kings'  beards.  You  re- 
member something,  perhaps,  that  I  told  you 
once  about  a  King  named  Ryence,  who  had  a 
mantle  trimmed  with  kings'  beards.  It  is  rather 
curious  that  there  should  be  two  of  them. 

"  It  was  when  King  Arthur  went  over  to 
France  on  his  way  to  fight  the  Emperor  of  Rome 
that  he  heard  of  this  giant.  He  was  a  terror  to 
the  whole  country,  for  he  killed  hundreds  of 
people  and  spoiled  crops,  and  his  favorite  food 
was  little  boys.  I  don't  know  why  he  liked  little 
boys  so  much  better  than  little  girls,  but  I  sup- 
pose he  knew  more  about  which  were  the  better 
to  eat  than  I  do. 

"  When  Arthur  heard  about  the  giant  he  took 
Sir  Kay  and  Sir  Bedivere  with  him  and  went 
to  the  foot  of  the  hill.  There  he  told  them  to 
wait  for  him,  and  went  up  the  hill  alone.  He 
found  the  giant  sitting  before  a  fire  cooking  a 
man  for  his  supper.  Arthur  got  close  to  him  and 
wounded  him  with  his  sword  before  the  giant 
knew  that  he  was  there.  Then  he  sprang  up 
and  caught  hold  of  Arthur,  and  they  both  fell 


148     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

and  rolled  over  and  over  each  other  clear  to  the 
bottom  of  the  hill,  and  Arthur  managed  to  give 
the  giant  two  or  three  more  wounds  on  the  way. 
Kay  and  Bedivere  ran  to  see  if  the  King  was 
killed,  and  they  found  that  he  was  scarcely  hurt 
at  all  and  that  the  giant  was  dead. 

"  I  don't  say  that  there  is  anything  so  very 
remarkable  about  that.  It  is  just  a  plain  sort  of 
every-day  giant  story.  But  here  are  the  strange 
points,  I  think.  Here  were  two  hills  looking 
wonderfully  alike  and  with  the  same  name,  and 
a  giant  lived  and  was  killed  on  each  of  them. 
And  here  were  two  giants,  both  named  Ryence, 
for  King  Ryence  was  a  giant,  too,  and  they  both 
had  mantles  trimmed  with  kings'  beards,  and 
Arthur  killed  one  and  beat  the  other.  It  looks 
to  me  as  if  two  stories,  at  least,  had  got  a  little 
mixed,  or  else  one  story  twisted  in  two.  How 
does  it  look  to  you  ?  " 

There  is  no  reason,  that  I  can  see,  why  I 
should  try  to  tell  you  all  about  the  way  from 
Penzance  to  the  Land's  End.  It  will  not  do 
you  much  good  to  know  that  it  was  grand  and 
beautiful,  as  long  as  you  were  not  there  to  see 
its  grandeur  and  its  beauty.  We  stopped  at 
St.  Buryan,  and  a  very  old  woman  showed  us 
the  church.  It  is  a  curious  old  place,  and  it 
has  some  fine  carvings.  But  the  old  woman, 
who  showed  us  everything  and  explained  it  to 
us,  could  not  understand  what  there  was  about 


On  the  Edge  of  Lyonnesse         149 

it  that  we  found  interesting.  She  had  been 
showing  this  church  to  people,  she  said,  for 
more  than  fifty  years,  and  she  had  never  been 
able  to  make  out  yet  why  they  wanted  to  see  it. 

Then  we  went  on  to  see  the  Logan  Rock, 
and  got  a  guide  to  find  it  for  us.  We  could 
never  have  found  it  for  ourselves,  because  it  is 
so  mixed  up  with  so  many  other  rocks.  It  is  a 
huge  rocking  stone.  It  weighs  I  don't  know 
how  many  tons,  but  a  strong  man  can  move  it 
a  little,  if  he  knows  just  how  and  where  to  take 
hold  of  it  and  push.  The  guide  rocked  it  for 
us,  and  he  said  that  we  did  it  ourselves  when 
we  tried,  but  I  think  he  flattered  us.  He  helped 
us  to  climb  on  the  top  of  it — not  an  easy  thing 
to  do  at  all — and  then  he  rocked  it  with  us  sit- 
ting on  it.  As  he  led  the  way  back  he  took  us 
through  a  narrow  passage  between  two  great 
rocks  and  told  us  that  we  must  each  of  us 
make  a  wish  as  we  passed  through  and  never 
tell  what  it  was,  and  then  it  would  come  true. 
"  But  we  don't  need  to  ask  what  the  young 
ladies  wish,"  he  said,  "  they  all  wish  the  same 
thing."  We  wondered  how  many  years  he  had 
been  making  that  same  joke  over  and  over 
again.  No  doubt  he  must  have  got  some 
pretty  tips  by  it,  when  there  were  young  wom- 
en and  young  men  both  in  the  party. 

We  were  going  to  walk  from  here  to  the  Land's 
End,  five  miles,  for  it  was  one  of  the  places 


150     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

where  we  had  been  told  that  we  must  walk,  so 
as  to  see  the  scenery.  We  had  already  told 
the  driver  to  go  on  to  the  Land's  End  and  wait 
there  for  us.  The  guide  showed  us  how  to  go 
and  offered  to  go  with  us,  but  we  thought  that 
we  did  not  need  him.  "  You  won't  be  able  to 
see  the  Scillys  to-day,"  he  said.  "  Sometimes 
you  can  see  them  from  the  Land's  End,  but  it 
isn't  clear  enough  to-day.  But  you  can  be  sure 
of  a  fine  day  to-morrow.  When  it  is  clear 
enough  to  see  the  Scillys  it  almost  always  rains 
the  next  day." 

So  we  felt  cheered  at  missing  a  sight  that  we 
had  hoped  to  see,  and  went  on  our  way.  All 
the  way  the  walk  was  up  headlands  and  down 
ravines,  with  many  grand  and  beautiful  pict- 
ures— great  crags  and  domes  and  pinnacles  of 
rock  and  deep  valleys  and  gorges  and  caves, 
and  the  sea  always  crashing  and  roaring  down 
below  us. 

And  when  we  came  to  the  Land's  End,  of 
course  that  was  the  best  of  all.  For  there  the 
sea  seemed  rougher  than  any  where  else,  though 
it  was  not  a  rough  day.  It  was  no  new  thing 
for  us  to  stand  on  a  point  of  rock,  with  all  the 
land  behind  us  and  nothing  but  boundless 
ocean  before  us.  We  did  not  need  to  come  to 
the  Land's  End  or  to  England  for  that.  But 
there  was  something  awful  and  solemn  about 
these  towers  of  stone  that  stood  here  to  keep 


On  the  Edge  of  Lyonnesse         151 

the  sea  from  washing  England  away,  and  about 
the  sea  that  was  working  at  them  while  we 
looked,  dashing  up  against  them  and  slipping 
back  and  dashing  up  again,  as  it  had  been  do- 
ing for  thousands  of  years  before  we  had  come 
to  look,  and  as  it  would  do  for  thousands  of 
years  after  we  were  gone.  And  after  all  these 
ages  of  work  and  struggle  the  waves  seemed  to 
be  still  angry,  still  fierce  and  full  of  wrath  that 
the  land  should  resist  them  so  long.  "  Old 
rocks,"  they  seemed  to  say,  "  you  think  that  you 
are  firm  and  steady  and  strong.  But  wait — and 
wait — there  is  much  time  before  both  of  us  still. 
Stand  against  us  as  you  will ;  we  shall  still  dash 
and  beat  upon  you,  and  at  last,  in  spite  of  all 
your  firmness,  we  shall  wear  and  wash  you 
away,  and  we  shall  cover  you  sometime  as  we 
covered  old  Lyonnesse." 

Lyonnesse !  That,  after  all,  I  believe,  is  the 
wonderful  thing  to  think  of  at  the  Land's  End. 
"  Yes,  now,"  I  said,  "  we  are  looking  straight 
out  over  Lyonnesse — Tristram's  country,  the 
country  that  is  lost.  This  is  where  it  began, 
and  it  stretched  away  out  there  where  there  is 
nothing  now  but  ocean,  away  out  to  the  Scilly 
Islands,  which  we  are  not  to  see  to-day.  For 
thirty  miles  old  Lyonnesse  reached  out  from 
here,  and  even  now,  they  say,  for  all  that  way, 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean  lies  at  an  even  depth, 
and  not  like  the  bottom  in  other  places.  And 


152     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

they  say,  too,  that  when  the  water  had  covered 
Lyonnesse  for  so  long  that  people  had  almost 
forgotten  that  there  ever  was  any  land  there, 
the  fishermen  used  to  think  of  it  again,  because 
they  sometimes  drew  up  their  hooks  with  pieces 
of  doors  and  windows  caught  upon  them.  And 
nothing  more  than  these  ever  came  back  of  a 
country  that  had  its  towns  and  its  fields  and  its 
forests  and  its  people,  which  were  all  lost  under 
the  water  together. 

"  And  I  remember  an  old  book  which  says 
that  more  than  Lyonnesse  was  taken  away  from 
Cornwall  by  the  sea.  For  the  old  book  says 
that  St.  Michael's  Mount,  which  we  saw  this 
morning,  used  to  have  another  name,  that  meant 
'  the  rock  in  the  wood.'  And  from  this  it  was 
thought  that  St.  Michael's  Mount  stood  in  a 
forest  once,  and  not  in  the  sea,  as  it  does  now. 
And  the  book,  which  was  written  about  three 
hundred  years  ago,  says  that  even  then,  when 
the  tides  were  low  around  St.  Michael's  Mount, 
the  stumps  and  roots  of  great  trees  were  some- 
times seen  half  buried  in  the  sand." 

Perhaps  this  is  all  nothing  but  old  fable,  but 
the  land  of  Cornwall  and  the  sea  of  Cornwall 
look  as  if  it  were  true.  How  could  these  terri- 
ble waves  and  tempests  tear  and  beat  and  surge 
upon  this  country,  even  with  its  walls  of  rock, 
without  taking  something  away  ?  You  can 
laugh  at  the  old  wives'  tales — if  it  is  your  way 


On  the  Edge  of  Lyonnesse         153 

to  laugh  at  such  things — it  is  not  ours — while 
you  are  at  home,  but  when  you  stand  at  the 
Land's  End  and  look  out  to  sea,  if  you  have  a 
bit  of  the  love  of  a  story  in  you,  you  must  and 
you  will  believe  in  Lyonnesse. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    SIEGE    PERILOUS 

IT  does  not  matter  just  where  we  were  when 
we  told  and  heard  these  next  few  stories. 
Neither  do  1  need  to  use  quotation  marks 
all  through  them.  You  will  understand  that 
we  did  tell  them  and  hear  them  somewhere. 
They  belong  to  no  place.  When  King  Arthur's 
knights  set  out  from  Camelot  to  seek  the  Holy 
Grail  everything  seemed  at  once  to  grow  mys- 
terious and  marvellous  and  magical.  Place  and 
time  were  unknown  and  almost  unthought  of. 
Knights  rode  about  without  knowing  or  caring 
where  they  went.  Sometimes  they  found  more 
wonderful  adventures  than  had  ever  been 
thought  of  before,  and  sometimes  they  rode 
for  days  and  saw  no  house  and  no  living  thing. 
Friends  met  friends  and  did  not  know  them  ; 
fathers  fought  with  sons,  and  brothers  with 
brothers.  New  knights  won  glory  and  knights 
who  were  old  and  tried  were  put  to  shame. 
Common  men  became  prophets,  and  so  prophets 


The  Siege  Perilous  155 

became  common.  The  worst  of  men  gave  coun- 
sel to  the  best  of  knights,  and  the  knights  could 
scarcely  tell  whether  the  things  that  they  were 
told  to  do  were  the  best  and  the  wisest  or  the 
most  foolish  and  the  worst.  There  were  signs 
and  omens  and  visions,  and  there  were  hard 
trials  of  courage  and  of  faithfulness. 

There  are  a  hundred  stories  of  what  was  seen 
and  said  and  done.  They  are  all  different,  and 
among  them  all  much  seems  confused  and  dim 
and  uncertain.  But  everywhere  and  through 
everything  is  seen,  like  a  clear  flash  of  fleeting 
flame,  one  perfect  knight,  the  strongest,  noblest, 
greatest  knight  who  ever  came  to  Arthur's 
court,  the  one  best  knight  of  all  the  world. 
Others  wander  and  stray  and  are  tempted  and 
overcome  and  disheartened,  and  then  there  is  a 
gleam  of  a  fire-colored  armor,  and  there  is  a 
swift  stroke  of  a  spear  that  never  missed  its 
aim,  the  wicked  are  overthrown,  the  helpless 
are  rescued,  and  the  knight  has  passed  on  to- 
ward his  goal  of  the  Holy  Grail. 

It  all  began  on  the  night  before  the  feast  of 
Pentecost,  when  so  many  strange  things  hap- 
pened. The  King  and  the  Queen  and  the 
knights  were  in  the  great  hall  at  Camelot,  and 
a  woman,  whom  no  one  knew,  rode  into  the 
hall  on  horseback.  She  dismounted  and  came 
before  the  King  and  said :  "  My  lord,  tell  me 
which  is  Sir  Lancelot." 
ii 


156     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  That  is  Sir  Lancelot,"  said  the  King,  point- 
ing to  where  he  sat. 

"  Sir  Lancelot,"  she  said,  "  I  am  sent  to  you 
by  King  Pelles.  He  asks  you  to  come  with  me 
to  an  abbey  in  a  forest  not  far  from  here." 

"  And  what  am  I  to  do  there?"  Lancelot 
asked. 

"  I  am  not  to  tell  you  that,"  she  said  ;  "  I  am 
only  to  bring  you  to  the  abbey." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  then,"  said  Lancelot, 
"  if  it  is  to  please  King  Pelles." 

"Lancelot,"  said  the  Queen,  "to-morrow  is 
the  feast  of  Pentecost ;  shall  you  not  be  with 
us  then  ?  " 

"  Madame,"  said  the  woman,  "  he  shall  be 
back  here  by  dinner-time  to-morrow." 

So  Lancelot  put  on  his  armor  and  rode  with 
the  woman  till  they  came  to  the  abbey  in  the 
forest.  There,  when  he  was  unarmed,  some 
nuns  came  to  him,  leading  a  young  man.  "  Sir 
Lancelot,"  one  of  them  said,  "  this  young  squire 
is  the  grandson  of  King  Pelles.  He  is  strong 
and  brave  and  noble.  He  has  learned  much, 
and  it  is  time  now  for  him  to  be  made  a  knight. 
He  asks  you,  and  so  does  King  Pelles  and  so 
do  we,  that  you  will  make  him  a  knight." 

Then  Lancelot  looked  at  the  young  man. 
He  was  scarcely  more  than  a  boy  in  his  years, 
but  he  was  tall  and  strong.  Lancelot  thought 
that  he  had  never  seen  so  beautiful  a  face,  and 


The  Siege  Perilous  157 

besides  its  beauty  there  was  courage  in  it,  and 
freedom  and  hope  and  all  the  rich  flush  and 
glow  of  a  bright,  new  manhood.  And  a  strange 
feeling  came  to  Lancelot  as  he  looked,  and  a 
voice  seemed  to  be  saying  in  his  ears :  "  He  has 
come  !  He  has  come  ! "  Lancelot  could  not 
have  told  what  it  meant.  He  only  felt  that 
there  was  something  in  this  young  man  that 
made  him  different  from  any  other  he  had  ever 
seen,  something  without  a  name,  by  which  he 
knew  that  he  was  greater  and  finer  and  truer 
than  the  rest.  "  To-night,  then,"  said  Lance- 
lot, "  let  him  watch  his  arms  in  your  chapel, 
and  to-morrow  I  will  make  him  a  knight." 

And  so  it  was  done.  The  young  man  watched 
his  arms  in  the  chapel  while  the  others  slept, 
and  in  the  morning  Lancelot  made  him  a  knight. 
Then  Lancelot  begged  the  new  knight  to  come 
to  the  court  with  him,  but  he  answered  :  "  No, 
it  is  not  time  for  me  to  go  to  the  court,  but  I 
shall  be  there  with  you  soon." 

"  So  Lancelot  rode  back  to  Camelot  alone. 
And  then  began  the  most  wonderful  day  of 
all  King  Arthur's  reign.  When  Lancelot  had 
come  and  all  the  knights  were  sitting  in  the 
hall  a  squire  ran  in  and  went  to  the  King  and 
said  :  "  My  lord,  I  have  just  come  up  from  the 
river,  and  down  there  a  great  stone  is  floating 
on  the  water  and  there  is  a  sword  sticking  in 
it." 


158     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  That  is  a  wonderful  thing,  truly,"  said  the 
King  ;  "  we  will  go  and  see  it." 

So  the  King  and  the  Queen  and  all  the 
knights  left  the  hall  and  went  down  to  the 
river.  And  there,  truly  enough,  was  the  stone, 
floating  on  the  river,  and  there  was  the  sword 
sticking  in  it,  as  the  squire  had  said.  And  the 
King  saw  letters  on  the  stone  and  he  came  near 
and  read  them  :  "  No  one  shall  ever  draw  this 
sword  out  of  this  stone  except  the  one  to  whom 
it  belongs,  the  best  knight  of  the  world." 

"  Surely,"  said  the  King,  "  I  think  that  the 
best  knights  of  the  world  are  in  my  court ;  who 
will  try  to  draw  this  sword  ?  "  and  he  looked 
toward  Lancelot. 

"  I  do  not  think,"  said  Lancelot,  "  that  the 
sword  is  mine,  and  I  will  not  try  to  draw  it." 

But  many  of  the  other  knights  tried  to  draw 
the  sword  and  could  not,  and  the  King  looked 
at  Lancelot  again  and  said  :  "  Will  you  not  try 
to  take  this  sword  ?  Surely  there  is  no  better 
knight  in  the  world  than  you." 

"  No,"  said  Lancelot,  "  it  is  not  for  me.  Re- 
member, my  lord,  all  the  wonderful  things  that 
Merlin  told  long  ago.  The  best  knight  of  the 
world  is  not  among  us  yet,  but  I  believe  that 
he  is  coming  soon.  Let  us  all  go  back  to  the 
hall,  my  lord,  and  keep  our  feast  and  wait  for 
him." 

And   back  they  went  to   the  hall,  and   they 


The  Siege  Perilous  159 

were  scarcely  in  their  places  when  there  came 
another  wonder.  An  old  man  came  into  the 
hall,  leading  a  young  man  by  the  hand.  They 
saw  that  he  was  an  old  man  only  by  his  figure 
and  by  his  step  and  by  the  end  of  a  white  beard 
which  they  could  see.  For  he  wore  a  long, 
white  robe,  and  a  hood  hung  low  down  over 
his  face,  so  that  they  could  not  see  it.  The 
young  man  was  dressed  all  in  flame-colored 
armor,  and  he  had  no  shield  or  sword,  but  an 
empty  scabbard  hung  by  his  side.  They  came 
and  stood  close  to  the  throne  and  closer  to  the 
Siege  Perilous.  Bors  sat  near  them,  and  it 
seemed  to  him  that  he  knew,  just  as  it  had 
seemed  to  him  once  before,  long  ago,  at  the 
Castle  of  Carbonek,  that  this  old  man  was 
Joseph  of  Arimathasa,  who  would  have  died 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  but  that  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Grail  kept  him  alive.  And  he  knew, 
too,  that  the  young  man  was  the  beautiful 
child  with  the  deep  eyes  and  the  bright,  sweet 
face  and  the  hair  like  gold,  whom  he  had  seen 
at  the  Castle  of  Carbonek.  Percivale  sat  next 
to  Bors,  and  it  seemed  to  him  too  that  he  knew 
the  old  man,  though  how  he  could  not  tell. 
Next  to  Bors  on  the  other  side  was  Lancelot, 
and  what  he  knew  was  that  the  young  man 
was  the  one  whom  he  had  made  a  knight  that 
morning  at  the  abbey. 

"  King  Arthur,"  said  the  old  man,  "  I  have 


160     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

brought  you  a  new  knight,  Sir  Galahad.  You 
have  waited  for  him  long,  for  you  were  told  of 
him  before  he  was  born,  and  his  place  at  your 
Round  Table  was  waiting  for  him  before  you 
yourself  were  born." 

"  He  is  welcome  here,"  said  the  King,  "  and 
you  are  welcome  too."  But  almost  before  he 
had  spoken  the  old  man  was  gone  from  the 
hall  and  the  young  knight  in  the  flame-colored 
armor  stood  before  him  alone.  Yes,  there  at 
last  he  stood,  Galahad,  whose  name  had  been 
spoken  with  wonder  or  with  hope  or  with 
doubt  so  many  times.  Only  the  best  knight 
of  the  world,  Merlin  had  said,  should  sit  in 
the  Siege  Perilous,  and  the  best  knight  of  the 
world  should  be  Galahad.  How  many  times 
Arthur  had  looked  at  that  seat  and  wondered 
why  his  best  knight,  Lancelot,  could  not  sit 
there,  and  what  the  knight  could  be  like  who 
should  be  better  than  Lancelot.  And  now  here 
he  stood — Galahad. 

But  there  was  something  else  for  the  best 
knight  of  the  world  to  do.  The  knights  who 
filled  the  hall  were  not  thinking  then  of  the 
Siege  Perilous.  They  were  thinking  of  the 
stone  floating  on  the  river,  and  the  sword  stick- 
ing in  it.  The  King  saw  them  whispering  to- 
gether and  pointing  that  way  and  he  said  to  the 
young  man  :  "  If  you  are  indeed  that  Galahad 
whom  we  have  waited  for  so  long,  you  are 


The  Siege  Perilous  161 

more  welcome  than  any  other  who  has  come 
here  since  Lancelot,  my  best  knight  till  now, 
the  son  of  my  old  friend  King  Ban.  If  you  are 
that  true  Galahad  who  was  promised,  then  you 
will  be  the  best  of  all  my  knights — better  than 
Lancelot.  Will  you  come  and  prove  to  us 
whether  you  are  so?  " 

Then  the  King  took  the  young  man's  hand 
and  led  him  down  to  the  river  and  all  the  rest 
followed  them  to  see.  And  the  King  said : 
"  Try  if  you  can  draw  that  sword,  for  none  of 
my  other  knights  can  draw  it." 

"  See,  my  lord,"  said  the  young  man,  "  I  have 
brought  no  sword,  only  this  empty  scabbard, 
for  I  knew  that  I  should  find  my  sword  here." 
And  he  took  hold  of  the  sword  that  stuck  in 
the  stone  and  drew  it  out  and  put  it  in  his  scab- 
bard. 

There  was  no  doubt  of  it  now;  the  knight 
whom  they  had  waited  for  had  come.  Yet  the 
King's  face  was  sad  as  he  led  the  way  back  to 
the  hall,  for  it  seemed  to  him  that  now  there 
could  be  little  to  wait  for  and  the  days  of  the 
Round  Table  would  not  be  many  more.  But 
other  thoughts  came  to  him  a  moment  later, 
when  the  new  knight  knelt  before  him  to  take 
the  oath  that  would  make  him  a  knight  of  the 
Round  Table.  For  then,  just  for  an  instant,  it 
seemed  to  him  that  the  time  had  gone  back  to 
the  beginning  of  his  reign.  There  was  a  look 


1 62     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

in  the  young  man's  eyes  that  brought  back  the 
day  when  Lancelot  had  knelt  before  him  like 
this  and  had  sworn  this  oath  and  when  he  had 
believed  that  Lancelot  would  surely  be  the  one 
perfect  knight.  Yes,  it  was  the  same  clear 
light  that  he  had  seen  for  an  instant  that  day  in 
Lancelot's  eyes,  the  glow  of  something  great 
and  wonderful,  he  knew  not  what.  But  there 
was  more  in  the  face  of  this  new  knight.  There 
was  something  which  told  Arthur  that,  though 
he  swore  that  in  all  things  he  would  be  true 
and  loyal  to  God  and  to  the  King,  yet,  without 
the  oath,  he  could  never  have  a  thought  that 
would  not  be  true  and  loyal. 

And  the  King  scarcely  knew  whether  it  was 
great  joy  or  great  sorrow  that  made  him  al- 
most tremble  before  this  boy.  And  when  he 
took  his  hand  again  they  all  saw  that  his  face 
was  white  as  he  turned  toward  the  seat  that 
was  next  the  throne.  And  there  at  last  in  that 
Siege  Perilous  were  the  letters,  more  of  fire 
than  of  gold,  as  they  seemed  :  "  This  is  the  seat 
of  Galahad." 

Those  who  could  see  whispered  to  those  who 
could  not  and  the  word  ran  down  the  hall  and 
then  in  an  instant  everyone  was  still.  After  all 
these  years  of  waiting,  after  the  wonders  and 
the  prophecies,  would  any  one,  even  Galahad, 
dare  to  sit  in  that  seat  ?  They  had  feared  that 
seat  and  had  seen  it  empty  so  long  that  they 


The  Siege  Perilous  163 

could  not  believe  it,  and  they  all  stood  up  in 
their  places  and  strained  their  eyes  and  held 
their  breaths  in  wonder  and  dread.  And  of  all 
who  were  there  Galahad  alone  had  no  fear  and 
no  dread.  Only  for  an  instant  he  stood  there, 
with  the  eyes  of  all  the  rest  upon  him  and  his 
own  upon  the  King's,  and  then  he  sat  in  the 
Siege  Perilous. 

Every  seat  at  the  Round  Table  was  filled. 
For  the  first  time  since  Merlin  made  that  table 
for  Uther  Pendragon  there  were  a  hundred  and 
fifty  knights  around  it  and  no  seat  was  empty. 
Then  of  a  sudden  the  hall  grew  dark.  Thick 
clouds  seemed  to  have  come  over  the  sun  and 
they  heard  a  great  wind  outside.  Then  there 
was  thunder  that  shook  the  castle  and  almost 
deafened  them.  It  was  over  in  a  moment  and 
through  an  upper  window  there  shone  one  broad 
beam  of  sunlight.  It  slanted  down  from  the 
top  of  the  hall  to  near  where  Galahad  sat,  and 
still  the  rest  of  the  hall  was  dark.  And  then 
came  the  strangest  thing  of  all.  They  saw  a 
soft,  red  glow  of  light,  through  the  darkness  of 
the  hall,  and  it  moved  toward  the  place  where 
the  sunlight  fell.  They  could  not  see  what  it 
was  clearly,  for  it  had  a  covering  of  white  silk, 
and  the  red  glow  shone  through  this  and  filled 
the  room.  And  the  thing  that  shone  was  in  the 
form  of  a  goblet.  It  moved,  as  if  someone  were 
carrying  it,  but  they  could  not  see  anyone.  It 


164     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

moved  till  it  came  where  the  sun  shone  upon  it, 
and  then  the  hall  was  bright  and  the  knights 
could  see  one  another.  And  it  seemed  to  each 
of  them  that  the  others  looked  greater  and 
stronger  and  more  beautiful  than  he  had  ever 
seen  them  look  before.  They  knew,  all  of  them, 
that  this  that  they  almost  saw,  but  could  not 
see,  was  the  Holy  Grail.  It  passed  on  again, 
away  from  the  sunlight  and  across  the  hall,  and 
the  red  glow  was  gone.  The  sunlight  was 
gone  too,  and  then  the  old  light  came  slowly 
back  and  they  all  saw  that  the  table  had  been 
covered  with  food. 

At  first  they  were  all  so  full  of  wonder  at  the 
sight  that  none  of  them  could  speak.  Then 
Gawain,  who  sat  on  King  Arthur's  left,  rose 
and  held  up  the  cross-shaped  hilt  of  his  sword. 
"  My  lord,"  he  said,  "  we  know  that  it  was.  the 
Holy  Grail  that  passed  before  us  just  now. 
But  we  did  not  see  it.  So  now  I  make  this  vow, 
my  lord,  that  I  will  leave  this  court  and  seek 
the  Holy  Grail,  that  I  may  see  it  more  openly 
than  we  have  all  seen  it  to-day.  I  will  seek  it 
for  a  year  and  a  day,  if  I  do  not  find  it  sooner, 
and  if  I  have  not  found  it  then  I  will  come  back, 
believing  that  God  does  not  wish  that  I  should 
see  it." 

Then  the  knight  who  was  next  to  Gawain 
held  up  the  cross-shaped  hilt  of  his  sword,  as 
Gawain  had  done,  and  made  the  same  vow, 


The  Siege  Perilous  165 

that  he  would  seek  the  Holy  Grail  for  a  year 
and  a  day,  unless  he  found  it  sooner.  And  so 
it  went  around  the  table,  and  they  all  made  the 
vow,  and  last  of  all  Lancelot  and  Bors  and  Per- 
civale  and  Galahad. 

And  Arthur  had  listened  to  them  all  and  had 
spoken  no  word,  but  his  face  was  pale  and 
troubled.  For  he  knew  that  if  his  knights  went 
away  upon  this  quest  many  of  them  would  not 
come  back,  and  he  should  never  see  all  the 
places  at  the  Round  Table  full  again,  as  he  saw 
them  now.  And  when  they  had  all  made  the 
vow  he  said  in  a  low  voice  to  Gawain  :  "  When 
will  you  leave  us  to  go  upon  this  quest  ?  " 

"  At  once,  my  lord,"  said  Gawain  ;  "  to-mor- 
row." 

"  Not  so  soon  as  that,"  said  the  King.  "  Let 
me  see  all  my  knights  together  for  one  more 
day.  We  will  have  a  tournament  to-morrow. 
You  shall  all  meet  before  me  once  more  in  one 
fine  field  of  combat  and  then  you  may  go." 

And  the  knights  all  saw  how  sad  the  King 
was  at  their  leaving  him,  and  they  were  all  glad 
to  do  as  he  wished.  But  the  King  had  another 
reason  for  the  tournament  that  was  to  be  the 
next  day.  He  did  want  to  see  all  his  knights 
together  for  one  last  time,  but  there  was  more 
than  that.  For  here  on  his  right,  in  the  Siege 
Perilous,  sat  Galahad.  He  was  the  best  knight 
of  all  the  world,  or  he  could  not  sit  in  that  seat. 


1 66     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

Arthur  knew — he  could  not  tell  how,  but  he 
knew — that  when  Galahad  left  the  court  to 
seek  the  Holy  Grail  he  would  never  come 
back.  The  best  knight  of  the  Round  Table, 
the  best  knight  who  had  ever  been  in  his  court, 
would  go  away  forever,  and  he  had  never  seen 
him  in  one  knightly  combat  and  would  never 
know  how  he  could  fight,  how  he  could  ride, 
or  how  he  bore  his  arms.  And  this  was  the 
reason,  more  than  the  other,  why  Arthur  wished 
to  see  one  great  tournament  of  all  his  knights. 

So  in  the  morning  the  meadow  at  Camelot 
was  thronged  again  with  the  people  who  came 
out  to  see  the  tournament,  all  the  more  eager 
because  they  had  heard  of  the  wonders  of  the 
day  before  and  of  Galahad,  and  because  they 
knew  that  he  would  be  there  in  the  field.  The 
King  sat  in  the  highest  place,  with  the  Queen 
beside  him,  and  it  was  with  sad  faces,  though 
they  were  proud  too,  that  they  looked  down 
upon  their  knights  striving  together  in  the 
tournament.  They  could  scarcely  have  told 
afterward  what  any  other  knight  did,  for  it 
seemed  to  them  all  that  day  that  they  saw  only 
one  knight.  Wherever  they  looked  they  saw 
those  flame-colored  arms  of  Galahad  flashing 
up  and  down  the  field.  His  horse  never  fal- 
tered, his  spear  never  failed,  his  arm  never  grew 
weary.  He  bore  no  shield,  but  every  spear 
that  touched  his  armor  was  shattered,  and 


The  Siege  Periloiis  167 

when  he  pointed  his  own  spear  at  any  other 
knight  and  charged  against  him  that  knight 
went  down.  But  the  King  and  the  Queen  saw 
that,  while  the  others  were  all  falling  before 
him,  he  never  came  near  to  Lancelot  or  to  Bors 
or  to  Percivale.  He  would  not  joust  with  them 
and  so  they  all  three  did  nobly  in  the  tourna- 
ment too.  And  the  King  was  so  filled  with  the 
wonder  of  all  that  he  saw  Galahad  do  that  when 
it  was  over  he  could  scarcely  speak  to  him. 
But  he  held  his  hand  and  looked  long  at  him 
and  said,  in  a  voice  that  sounded  strange  and 
uncertain :  "  Galahad,  I  have  seen  the  best  that 
a  knight  can  do." 

That  was  their  last  night  all  together  in  the 
great  hall  at  Camelot.  After  it  came  a  sad 
morning.  The  knights  were  ready  early  and 
the  King  was  ready  to  see  them  go,  though  he 
could  scarcely  take  the  hand  of  each  and  say 
good-by,  so  great  was  his  grief  at  their  going. 
The  knights  all  mounted  together  and  rode 
through  the  streets  of  Camelot,  between  the 
lines  of  people  who  had  come  out  of  their 
houses  to  see  them  go,  and  so  out  through  the 
gate  and  away  from  the  city.  And  the  King 
and  the  Queen  stood  on  a  tower  of  the  castle 
to  watch  them  as  long  as  they  could.  At  first 
they  could  pick  out  here  an  armor  and  there  a 
banner  and  know  that  this  was  Galahad,  this 
Lancelot,  and  that  Gawain.  But  when  they 


168     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

were  farther  off  they  could  not  do  this  any 
more ;  they  could  only  see  the  big,  bright  spot 
upon  the  road  where  the  morning  sunlight 
struck  upon  the  armors,  and  then  their  eyes 
were  tired  with  looking  and  something  came 
across  them  so  that  for  a  moment  they  could 
not  see  at  all.  The  bright  spot  on  the  road 
grew  smaller  and  smaller.  It  flashed  and 
twinkled  and  shivered.  Was  it  a  cloud  of  dust 
that  rose  now  behind  the  knights  and  hid  the 
glimmer  of  their  arms,  or  was  there  something 
in  the  King's  eyes  again  so  that  he  could  not 
see  it?  Once  more  he  saw  the  far-off  flash, 
fainter  now,  and  yet  again,  and  then  the  dust 
rose  and  there  was  no  more  to  see.  And  so  the 
noble  fellowship  of  the  Round  Table  passed 
away  from  King  Arthur  and  out  of  his  sight 
like  a  setting  star. 


CHAPTER  X 

GAWAIN 

ALL  that  day  the  knights  of  the  Round  Table 
rode  together,  and  in  the  evening  they  came  to 
a  city  where  they  all  lodged  for  the  night.  The 
next  morning  they  parted  and  rode  different 
ways.  In  the  days  and  the  weeks  and  the 
months  that  followed  some  of  them  had  many 
and  strange  adventures  and  some  of  them  had 
but  few.  I  could  not  possibly  tell  you,  or  even 
remember  for  myself,  all  the  wonderful  things 
that  happened  to  all  of  them,  but  I  can  tell  you 
a  part  of  the  things  that  happened  to  a  part  of 
them. 

Gawain  rode  for  a  long  time  alone,  till  at 
last,  at  an  abbey  where  he  stopped  to  spend 
the  night,  he  found  his  brother  Gareth  and  his 
cousin  Uwain.  The  next  day  they  went  on 
their  way  together,  and  as  they  rode  so  they 
met  seven  knights,  who  called  to  them  to  stop 
and  to  tell  who  they  were. 
169 


170     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  We  are  knights  of  King  Arthur's  court," 
they  answered,  "and  we  are  seeking  for  the 
Holy  Grail." 

"  Then  it  is  well  that  we  have  met  you,"  said 
one  of  the  seven  knights.  "  We  are  from  the 
Castle  of  Maidens.  A  knight  of  King  Arthur's 
court  drove  us  out  of  our  castle  and  we  have 
sworn  to  kill  all  of  King  Arthur's  knights  whom 
we  meet.  We  will  begin  with  you." 

Then  all  seven  of  them  put  their  spears  in  rest 
and  charged  against  Gawain  and  Uwain  and 
Gareth.  But  the  three  knights  of  the  Round 
Table  fought  so  well  that  they  soon  beat  their 
seven  enemies  and  wounded  them  and  drove 
them  away.  The  three  knights  parted  then 
and  rode  different  ways.  And  in  the  evening 
Gawain  came  to  the  cell  of  a  hermit  and  asked 
him  to  let  him  stay  for  the  night.  They  talked 
together  and  Gawain  told  the  hermit  who  he 
was  and  that  he  was  seeking  the  Holy  Grail. 
The  hermit  knew,  as  everybody  knew,  all  that 
Arthur's  famous  knights  had  done,  and  he  said: 
"  It  is  useless  for  you,  Sir  Gawain,  to  seek  the 
Holy  Grail.  You  will  never  find  it.  It  shows 
itself  only  to  the  purest  and  the  best.  You  have 
not  been  good  enough  and  sound  enough  and 
true  enough  in  your  life  ever  to  see  the  Holy 
Grail.  Ah,  Gawain,  Gawain,  do  not  think  that 
you  did  such  a  great  thing  to-day,  you  and  your 
two  fellows,  when  you  beat  those  seven  knights 


Gawain  171 

from  the  Castle  of  Maidens.  For  one  knight 
alone  had  beaten  them  all  only  a  little  while 
before.  They  had  taken  the  Castle  of  Maidens 
from  the  old  lord  who  owned  it,  and  they  had 
killed  him  and  had  held  the  castle  for  a  long 
time.  They  were  tyrants  and  murderers,  and 
Galahad  came  and  drove  them  all  out  and  gave 
the  castle  to  the  daughter  of  its  old  lord.  Gala- 
had did  it  alone,  and  now  you  three  are  proud 
because  you  beat  the  seven  cowards.  Knights 
like  Galahad  will  see  the  Holy  Grail,  not  knights 
like  you,  Gawain." 

In  the  morning  the  hermit  told  Gawain  that 
if  he  hoped  ever  to  come  near  the  Holy  Grail 
he  ought  to  do  some  penance  for  all  the  evils 
of  his  life.  But  Gawain  answered  :  "  No ;  we 
knights  make  long  journeys  and  we  fight  dan- 
gerous battles.  Our  lives  are  hard  enough 
without  doing  any  other  penance,  and  I  will  do 
no  other."  So  he  rode  on  his  way. 

And  after  that  for  weeks  and  months  Ga- 
wain rode  by  lonely  ways  and  through  deep 
woods  and  over  barren  hills,  and  he  met  with 
no  adventure  and  scarcely  with  a  living  man. 
Then  he  met  another  knight  of  the  Round 
Table,  Sir  Ector.  He  was  not  the  old  Sir 
Ector,  Arthur's  foster  father,  but  another,  the 
brother  of  Lancelot.  "  I  am  tired  of  this  quest 
of  the  Holy  Grail,"  said  Gawain.  "  I  have 
ridden  for  months  and  1  have  found  no  adven- 


172     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

ture,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  all  the  people  of 
the  country  are  dead." 

"  It  is  so  with  me,"  said  Ector.  "  I  used  to 
find  adventures  enough,  wherever  I  went,  but 
there  are  no  more  of  them  now." 

The  two  went  on  together  for  a  time  and 
everything  seemed  waste  and  deserted,  as  it 
had  seemed  to  each  of  them  before.  They 
came  at  last  to  a  chapel  that  stood  by  the  road. 
It  looked  as  sad  and  as  deserted  as  the  rest, 
and  it  was  falling  into  ruin,  but  they  left  their 
horses  and  went  into  it  and  sat  down  to  rest. 
And  while  they  sat  there  they  both  fell  asleep, 
and  Gawain  had  a  strange  dream.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  he  saw  a  pasture  where  a  hundred 
and  fifty  bulls  were  feeding.  They  were  all 
black  but  three,  and  those  were  white.  And 
while  he  looked  they  all  went  away,  and  after- 
ward some  of  them  came  back,  but  many  did 
not  come  back.  Only  one  of  the  white  ones 
came,  and  the  black  ones  all  looked  lean  and 
weak. 

When  he  awoke  he  told  Ector  of  his  dream, 
and  said:  "It  seems  so  strange  to  me  that  I 
believe  it  has  some  meaning,  and  if  we  can 
find  some  wise  and  holy  man  I  shall  tell  it  to 
him  and  ask  him  what  it  means." 

And  as  they  rode  on  they  met  a  young 
squire  and  Gawain  asked  him  if  he  knew  of 
any  man  such  as  he  wished  to  find.  "  Nacien, 


Gawain  1 73 

the  hermit,"  said  the  squire,  "  is  a  wise  and 
holy  man.  He  was  a  knight  of  King  Arthur's 
many  years  ago,  and  they  say  that  he  was  one 
of  the  best  of  them.  His  cell  is  not  far  from 
here." 

He  showed  them  the  way,  and  when  they 
found  the  hermit  Gawain  told  him  his  dream 
and  asked  him  what  it  meant.  And  the  hermit 
answered  :  "  The  pasture  that  you  saw  was  the 
Round  Table  and  the  bulls  were  the  knights  of 
the  Round  Table.  They  left  the  pasture,  just 
as  the  knights  went  away  to  seek  the  Holy 
Grail.  The  three  that  were  white  were  three 
knights  who  are  so  true  and  pure  that  they  will 
see  the  Holy  Grail  at  last,  but  only  one  of  them 
will  come  back.  And  the  other  knights,  the 
black  bulls,  will  never  see  the  Holy  Grail,  be- 
cause of  the  evil  in  their  lives.  Many  of  them 
will  not  come  back,  but  some  will  come,  and 
they  will  be  weary  and  worn  with  the  quest." 

Then  Gawain  said:  "  If  what  you  say  is 
true  we  shall  never  find  the  Holy  Grail,  for  I 
fear  that  we  must  be  counted  among  those 
who  have  too  much  evil  in  their  lives." 

"  Gawain,"  the  hermit  answered,  "  there  are 
a  hundred  knights  of  the  Round  Table  as  good 
as  you,  who  will  never  see  the  Holy  Grail." 

And  Gawain  and  Ector  rode  on  till  they 
came  to  a  castle  where  there  was  a  tournament. 
The  knights  of  the  castle  were  against  a  great 


174     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

crowd  of  other  knights,  and  Gawain  and  Ector 
joined  in  the  tournament  against  the  knights 
of  the  castle.  And  Gawain  and  Ector  fought 
so  well  that  it  was  plain  that  their  side  was 
winning  the  day.  Then  of  a  sudden  they  saw 
a  new  knight  among  those  of  the  castle.  They 
had  not  seen  how  he  came  or  from  where.  He 
carried  a  white  shield,  with  a  red  cross  upon 
it,  and  the  rest  of  his  arms  were  of  the  color  of 
fire.  Gawain  charged  against  him  first.  His 
spear  was  broken  against  the  white  shield,  but 
the  other  knight  used  no  spear.  He  only 
raised  his  sword  and  struck  Gawain  so  that  he 
cut  through  his  helmet  and  wounded  his  head 
and  threw  him  from  his  horse.  Ector  drew 
Gawain  out  of  the  field  and  took  off  his  helmet, 
and  the  knight  with  the  white  shield  charged 
against  more  of  the  knights  who  were  against 
those  of  the  castle.  And  everywhere  he  over- 
threw them  till  the  word  was  given  that  the 
knights  of  the  castle  had  won  the  day.  Then 
he  went  away  again  as  he  had  come,  and  no 
one  knew  where. 

The  tournament  was  over  and  Gawain  was 
taken  into  the  castle  and  laid  upon  a  bed. 
"  Ector,"  he  said,  "  do  you  know  who  the 
knight  was  who  wounded  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Ector,  "  I  know  him.  There  is 
only  one  who  could  do  such  things  as  I  saw 
him  do.  It  was  Galahad.  His  arms  were  like 


Gawain  175 

Galahad's  too,  only  when  we  saw  him  last  he 
had  no  shield." 

"  Ector,"  said  Gawain,  "  it  is  Galahad  who 
will  find  the  Holy  Grail.  We  are  not  like  him, 
and  we  cannot  do  the  things  that  he  can  do. 
We  have  gone  far  enough  in  this  quest.  I 
shall  seek  the  Holy  Grail  no  more." 


CHAPTER  XI 

LANCELOT 

WHEN  the  knights  of  the  Round  Table 
parted,  Lancelot,  like  the  rest,  rode  for  a  time 
alone.  Many  times  before  now  Lancelot  had 
sought  adventures  by  himself.  For  many  years 
he  had  wandered  over  England  and  he  thought 
that  he  knew  the  country  well.  But  now,  be- 
fore he  had  ridden  far,  he  was  in  places  that 
seemed  strange  to  him,  and  soon  he  could  not 
tell  at  all  where  he  was.  He  crossed  rivers 
and  rode  over  hills  and  plains  and  through 
woods  where  there  were  scarcely  any  paths  to 
follow.  He  saw  fewer  people  than  he  had  been 
used  to  see,  and  many  of  the  houses  that  he 
passed  were  deserted  and  ruined.  Often  wild 
beasts  crossed  his  track  and  he  had  to  fight 
with  them.  At  night  he  slept  where  he  could, 
sometimes  in  a  ruined  house  or  chapel,  some- 
times on  the  ground,  with  his  horse  tied  to  a 
tree  near  him. 

176 


Lancelot  177 

And  when  he  slept  he  had  strange  dreams. 
Often  in  these  dreams  he  thought  that  the 
Holy  Grail  came  near  him.  He  saw  the  rosy 
light  shine  through  the  white  covering,  for  that 
covering  of  silk  was  always  over  it,  but  he 
could  never  come  close  to  it.  He  saw  others 
who  were  wounded  or  sick  come  to  it  and  touch 
it  and  go  away  again  strong  and  well,  but  he 
had  no  strength  to  move  or  to  speak.  It  came 
near  to  him  and  passed  away  and  he  lay  before 
it  helpless. 

When  he  awoke  he  would  ride  on,  over  more 
of  the  hills  and  plains  and  rivers,  fight  again 
with  the  wild  beasts  and  lie  down  to  sleep 
again  as  he  had  done  before.  Sometimes  he 
came  to  a  hermit's  cell.  Then  he  stayed  all 
night  with  the  hermit  and  talked  with  him  of 
the  court,  of  the  knights,  of  his  long  journey, 
and  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Sometimes  one  of  the 
hermits  would  say  to  him  :  "  The  Holy  Grail  is 
not  for  such  men  as  you  to  see.  You  have  been 
counted  long  the  best  of  knights,  in  your 
strength  and  your  deeds,  yet  there  has  been 
evil  in  your  life,  too,  and  the  Holy  Grail  will 
not  show  itself  to  you  in  the  way  that  it  will  to 
others." 

Then  Lancelot  would  ride  on  his  way  feeling 
sad.  He  would  remember  the  knight  in  the 
flame-colored  arms,  who  had  done  better  in 
that  last  tournament  that  they  had  than  he  had 


178     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

ever  done.  He  would  remember  how  that 
knight  had  sat  in  the  Siege  Perilous ;  how  his 
own  seat  for  all  these  years  had  been  three 
places  off  from  the  Siege  Perilous,  and  how 
those  two  other  knights,  Percivale  and  Bors, 
had  sat  nearer  to  it  than  he.  And  he  would 
think :  "  This  quest  is  for  such  knights  as  those ; 
it  is  not  for  me." 

Then  some  other  wise  man  would  say  to  him  : 
"  Lancelot,  the  Holy  Grail  will  show  itself  to 
few,  but  you  shall  do  better  in  this  quest  than 
many  others."  And  then  he  rode  on  his  way 
again  with  new  hope,  though  he  did  not  know 
of  what,  and  with  new  heart. 

One  evening  he  was  riding  after  the  sun  had 
set,  and  he  was  thinking  that  he  must  soon  find 
a  place  to  stay  for  the  night.  Then  he  came 
into  a  wood  and  all  at  once  it  was  darker 
around  him  than  it  had  been  out  on  the  open 
plain.  And  before  him,  then,  he  saw  dimly  the 
form  of  a  knight  coming  toward  him  on  a  horse. 
"  Sir  Knight,"  he  said, "  I  have  ridden  in  strange 
paths  for  many  days  and  I  have  met  no  knight, 
and  I  have  almost  felt  that  I  was  forgetting 
knightly  ways.  Will  you  try  one  joust  with  me  ?  " 

The  knight  did  not  answer,  but  he  put  his 
spear  in  the  rest,  and  Lancelot  did  so  too. 
They  spurred  their  horses  and  rode  together 
with  a  crash  and  Lancelot's  spear  struck  full 
upon  the  shield  of  the  other  knight  and  was 


Lancelot  179 

broken  into  splinters.  But  the  other  spear 
held,  and  it  struck  Lancelot's  shield  and  threw 
him  off  his  horse  and  he  lay  upon  the  ground. 
And  so  the  great  Lancelot,  the  glory  of  King 
Arthur's  court,  was  overthrown  by  the  first 
knight  whom  he  met.  The  other  knight  was 
off  his  horse  in  an  instant  and  Lancelot  was  on 
his  feet.  He  drew  his  sword  half  out  and  then 
stayed  his  hand  and  let  the  blade  slide  back 
again  into  the  sheath.  He  bowed  his  head  be- 
fore the  other,  who  stood  before  him,  and  said  : 
"  I  know  you,  Sir  Knight.  For  these  many 
years  I  have  jousted  with  all  the  best  knights 
of  the  world,  and  I  know  the  stroke  that  every 
one  of  them  can  give.  Tristram  could  never 
strike  any  blow  like  that  of  yours,  or  Gawain  or 
Palamides  or  Percivale  or  Bors  or  Gareth.  I 
have  never  felt  it  before,  but  I  know  that  there 
is  no  other  such  certain  spear  in  the  world  as 
this  of  yours,  Galahad  !  Galahad  !  " 

And  the  other  answered  :  "  I  know  you,  too, 
for  I  have  heard  of  you  so  long  and  of  your 
knightly  deeds.  It  is  as  if  I  had  learned  all 
that  I  know  of  knighthood  from  you.  And  it 
was  you,  too,  who  made  me  a  knight,  and  I  feel 
toward  you,  for  all  these  things,  as  if  you  were 
my  father,  Lancelot!  Lancelot!" 

Then  Lancelot  said  :  "  Galahad,  I  feel  that 
it  is  such  knights  as  you  who  will  see  the  Holy 
Grail,  and  I  feel  that  it  would  be  better  for  me 


180     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

to  be  with  you.  May  I  go  with  you  now, 
wherever  you  go,  and  try  to  find  the  Holy 
Grail  with  you  ?  " 

"  No,  Lancelot,"  Galahad  answered,  "  no  one 
can  go  with  me  yet,  but  I  will  tell  you  this : 
since  we  all  parted  I  have  talked  with  many- 
good  and  wise  men,  and  they  have  told  me 
many  things.  Of  all  who  are  seeking  the  Holy 
Grail  only  three  will  see  it  openly,  but  of  all 
the  rest  who  seek  it  you  will  be  nearer  to  it 
than  any  other." 

Then  Galahad  mounted  his  horse  again  and 
rode  away  through  the  wood,  and  it  seemed  to 
Lancelot  that  a  pale  light  shone  back  upon  him 
for  a  moment  from  the  flame-colored  armor, 
and  then  he  was  gone.  And  as  soon  as  Lance- 
lot was  alone  a  little  breeze  rustled  the  tops  of 
the  trees  above  him.  They  made  only  a  low, 
sighing  sound  at  first,  and  then  it  grew  louder 
and  clearer,  and  then  it  seemed  to  Lancelot 
that  it  grew  into  a  voice,  and  he  thought  that 
the  voice  said  :  "  Lancelot,  go  to  the  sea  and  go 
into  the  ship  that  you  find  there." 

Then  the  voice  and  the  rustling  of  the  trees 
and  the  wind  all  died  away,  and  Lancelot 
mounted  and  rode  on  through  the  wood.  And 
he  had  scarcely  started  when  he  came  out  of 
the  wood  and  saw  the  sea  before  him.  Far  out 
he  could  see  great  waves,  with  white  crests 
that  flashed  in  the  moonlight,  but  close  to  him 


Lancelot  1 8 1 

there  was  a  little  bay,  with  a  rocky  shore,  and  a 
ship  lay  close  to  the  rocks,  so  that  he  could 
step  on  board. 

Lancelot  could  see  no  one  on  the  ship  and  it 
had  no  sail,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  on  board  it 
left  the  rock  and  the  bay  and  carried  him  out 
to  sea.  Then  a  feeling  of  strange  rest  and 
happiness  came  over  him.  He  never  knew 
how  long  he  was  in  the  ship  or  whether  he 
slept  there.  But  when  he  next  saw  anything 
clearly  it  was  still  night  and  the  moon  was  still 
shining.  The  water  was  calm  and  there  was 
land  all  around.  The  ship  came  to  the  shore 
and  stopped,  and  before  him  Lancelot  saw  the 
gate  of  a  castle. 

He  left  the  ship  and  went  toward  the  gate, 
and  there  he  saw  two  great  lions  guarding  it. 
He  drew  his  sword  and  kept  on  toward  them, 
and  when  he  was  near  the  gate  something 
struck  his  sword  out  of  his  hand.  Yet  he  felt, 
he  could  not  tell  why,  that  there  was  no  dan- 
ger from  the  lions,  and  he  went  on  through  the 
gate.  The  lions  sprang  at  him  as  he  passed, 
but  they  did  not  touch  him,  and  he  went  into 
the  castle.  He  saw  no  people,  but  he  went  on 
from  room  to  room,  through  open  doors,  till  at 
last  he  came  to  one  that  was  shut. 

He  tried  to  open  the  door,  but  he  could  not, 
and  then  he  heard  music  on  the  other  side  of  it. 
It  was  like  the  singing  of  a  great  choir,  and  the 


1 82     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

singing  or  something  else  seemed  to  tell  Lance- 
lot that  the  Holy  Grail  was  in  that  room  where 
he  could  not  go,  and  he  knelt  down  before  the 
door  and  waited.  Then  the  door  opened  of  it- 
self and  a  great  light  shone  out  and  he  could 
hear  the  music  more  clearly.  He  looked  into 
the  chamber  and  in  the  middle  of  it  he  saw  a 
table  of  gold  and  silver,  inlaid  in  beautiful 
shapes,  and  on  the  table  was  the  Holy  Grail, 
still  with  that  white  covering  of  silk.  Yet  it 
seemed  to  Lancelot  that  the  rosy  glow  from 
the  Holy  Grail  that  shone  through  the  silk  was 
brighter  and  clearer  than  it  had  been  when  he 
had  seen  it  in  the  hall  at  Camelot,  and  brighter 
than  it  had  ever  seemed  to  him  in  his  dreams. 
An  old  man  stood  beside  the  table  and  Lancelot 
knew  that  he  was  the  same  who  had  led  Gala- 
had into  the  hall  that  day  when  he  had  sat  in 
the  Siege  Perilous. 

Then,  while  Lancelot  looked,  the  old  man 
lifted  up  the  Holy  Grail,  and  at  that  Lancelot 
started  up  and  came  into  the  chamber  to  get 
nearer  to  it.  But  suddenly  it  seemed  to  him 
that  a  blast  of  fire  struck  him  in  the  face.  The 
burning  air  seemed  all  about  him  and  through 
him  and  it  took  away  his  breath  and  his  strength 
and  he  fell  to  the  floor.  Then  he  felt  no  more 
pain  and  he  did  not  know  where  he  was,  but  he 
felt  hands  that  took  him  up  and  carried  him 
away  and  put  him  in  a  bed. 


Lancelot  183 

The  people  of  the  Castle  found  that  he  was 
not  dead  and  they  took  care  of  him,  and  it  was 
twenty-four  days  before  he  awoke.  Then  he 
looked  about  him  and  asked  them  where  he 
was.  "  Who  are  you  ?  "  they  asked  him. 

"  I  am  Lancelot  of  the  Lake,"  he  answered, 
"  and  I  am  seeking  the  Holy  Grail." 

"  This  is  the  Castle  of  Carbonek,"  they  said, 
"and  King  Pelles,  the  keeper  of  the  Grail,  lives 
here.  You  have  done  well  and  nobly,  Sir 
Lancelot,  and  now  you  must  go  back  to  King 
Arthur,  for  you  will  never  see  more  of  the 
Holy  Grail  than  you  have  seen  here." 


CHAPTER  XII 

BORS 

BORS  left  his  fellows  of  the  Round  Table  and 
rode  all  day  alone.  Toward  evening  he  met  a 
hermit.  These  Grail-seeking  knights  were  al- 
ways meeting  hermits.  The  country  seems  to 
have  been  full  of  them.  And  this  one  asked 
Bors  to  come  to  his  cell  and  rest  there  for  the 
night.  He  had  nothing  to  give  to  Bors  to  eat 
and  drink  except  bread  and  water,  and  while 
they  were  making  their  supper  of  these  the 
hermit  asked  the  knight  to  tell  him  who  he  was 
and  on  what  journey  he  was  bound. 

So  Bors  told  him  how  the  Holy  Grail  had 
come  into  the  hall  at  Camelot,  but  covered,  so 
that  no  one  could  see  it.  And  he  told  him 
how  all  the  knights  had  vowed  that  they  would 
seek  for  the  Grail  and  try  to  see  it,  how  they 
had  all  left  Camelot  together,  and  how  they 
had  parted  now,  and  were  all  riding  different 
ways.  Then  the  hermit  said :  "  Sir  Bors,  do 
184 


Bors  185 

you  know  that  this  Holy  Grail  will  not  be 
found  by  any  knight  who  is  not  brave  and 
worthy  in  his  deeds  and  pure  and  true  in  his 
life  ?  Do  you  know  that  it  will  not  show  itself 
except  to  those  who  seek  for  it  faithfully,  think- 
ing of  nothing  else,  except  such  good  and  noble 
things  as  they  can  do,  and  never  forgetting  it 
because  of  any  pleasure  or  of  any  gain  ?  " 

And  Bors  answered  :  "  Yes,  I  know  it." 

"  Then,  Sir  Bors,"  said  the  hermit,  "  will  you 
promise  me  one  thing,  to  help  you  to  find  the 
Holy  Grail?" 

"  What  shall  I  promise  you  ?  "  said  Bors. 

"  Promise  me,"  said  the  hermit,  "  that  you 
will  eat  nothing  but  bread  and  that  you  will 
drink  nothing  but  water,  till  you  see  the  Holy 
Grail." 

"  Is  it  right,"  said  Bors,  "  for  me  to  promise 
this  ?  How  do  you  know  that  I  shall  ever  see 
the  Holy  Grail  ?  " 

"  I  know,"  the  hermit  answered,  "  that  it  is 
such  knights  as  you  who  will  see  it,  if  they  seek 
it  in  the  right  way." 

"  Then  I  will  promise,"  said  Bors. 

In  the  morning  Bors  left  the  hermit  and  went 
on  his  way.  And  after  a  time  he  saw  two  knights 
coming  toward  him,  leading  a  third  knight  as 
a  prisoner.  They  had  him  bound  upon  a  horse 
and  they  were  beating  him  with  thorns.  And 
when  they  came  nearer  Bors  saw  that  the  knight 


1 86     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

who  was  a  prisoner  was  his  brother  Lionel. 
Then,  just  as  he  was  riding  forward  to  help  his 
brother,  he  saw,  on  the  other  side  of  him,  a 
woman,  and  some  robbers  pursuing  her.  Bors 
stopped  and  for  an  instant  did  not  know  what 
to  do.  For,  as  a  good  knight,  he  ought  to  help 
the  woman,  yet  he  feared  that  if  he  did  that 
his  brother  would  be  killed  or  led  away  where 
he  could  not  help  him. 

Yet  it  was  only  for  a  moment  that  Bors 
doubted.  Then  he  remembered  that  his  brother 
was  a  knight  and  that  he  should  be  ready  al- 
ways to  suffer  whatever  came  to  him,  and  that 
the  woman  needed  him  more.  So  he  turned 
against  the  robbers  and  fought  with  them  and 
drove  them  away.  When  he  had  done  that 
some  knights  came  up  who  were  the  woman's 
friends,  and  they  thanked  him  for  saving  her 
and  begged  him  to  come  with  them  to  the 
castle  of  her  father,  who  was  a  great  lord  and 
lived  near  by.  But  Bors  said  that  he  must 
hasten  now  to  help  his  brother,  and  he  rode 
the  way  that  he  had  seen  his  brother  and  the 
other  two  knights  go. 

He  rode  for  a  long  time  and  saw  nothing  of 
them,  and  then  he  met  a  man  dressed  like  a 
priest,  riding  on  a  black  horse.  "  Knight,"  said 
the  man,  "  where  are  you  riding  so  fast  ?  " 

"  I  am  trying,"  he  said,  "  to  find  my  brother, 
Sir  Lionel,  for  I  saw  two  knights  leading 


Bors  187 

him  away  as  a  prisoner,  and  I  must  help 
him." 

"  You  need  not  go  any  farther,"  said  the  man, 
"and  you  must  be  brave  to  bear  what  I  have  to 
tell  you.  Your  brother  is  dead.  The  knights 
whom  you  saw  have  killed  him.  Come  with 
me  now  and  I  will  bring  you  to  a  castle  near 
here,  where  you  can  stay  for  the  night,  and 
longer  if  you  will." 

So  Bors  rode  with  him,  and  as  they  went 
along  he  asked  him  if  he  was  a  priest.  He  said 
that  he  was,  and  then  Bors  asked  him  if  he  had 
done  right  to  help  the  woman  instead  of  his 
brother.  "  No,"  the  priest  answered,  "  you  did 
wrong.  Your  brother  has  been  killed  because 
of  what  you  did,  and  that  woman  was  nothing 
to  you." 

Then  Bors  was  sadder  than  before,  and  he 
said  no  more  till  they  came  to  the  castle  to 
which  the  priest  was  leading  him.  There  a 
woman,  young  and  beautiful,  the  lady  of  the 
castle,  came  down  to  meet  him,  followed  by 
many  others,  all  young  and  beautiful  too.  They 
welcomed  him  and  led  him  to  the  hall,  where  a 
feast  was  spread  on  the  table,  and  they  begged 
him  to  eat  and  drink,  and  then  to  stay  with 
them  and  join  in  their  games  and  their  dances 
and  their  feasts.  But  Bors  answered :  "  I  am 
one  of  the  knights  who  are  seeking  the  Holy 
Grail  and  I  must  not  turn  away  from  my  quest 


1 88     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

for  any  pleasures,  and  I  have  promised  to  eat 
nothing  but  bread  and  to  drink  nothing  but 
water  till  I  see  the  Holy  Grail." 

"  The  Holy  Grail?  "  said  the  priest.  "  Why 
are  you  seeking  it  ?  Do  you  know  why,  or  shall 
I  tell  you  ?  It  is  because  you  know  that  few  will 
find  it.  It  is  because  you  wish  for  the  glory  of 
being  thought  better  than  other  men.  Is  this  a 
good  or  a  noble  wish  ?  I  tell  you  it  is  a  proud 
and  wicked  one.  Forget  it  and  stay  here  with 
us  and  be  happy  and  be  like  other  men." 

And  the  lady  of  the  castle  said  :  "  Sir  Bors, 
I  knew  that  you  were  coming  here  and  it  was 
for  you  that  I  made  this  feast.  Stay  here  with 
us  now  or  I  shall  kill  myself,  and  my  death  will 
be  by  your  fault,  as  your  brother's  was.  Say 
that  you  will  stay  with  us,  or  I  will  go  up  to 
the  top  of  the  castle  tower  and  throw  my- 
self down." 

And  again  Bors  did  not  know  what  he  ought 
to  do.  He  could  not  forget  that  the  hermit 
had  told  him  that  he  must  not  think  of  pleas- 
ures while  he  was  seeking  the  Holy  Grail,  and 
he  could  not  forget  that  he  had  promised  to  eat 
nothing  but  bread  and  drink  nothing  but  water 
till  he  should  see  it.  And,  as  he  cast  down  his 
eyes  in  thinking,  he  saw  the  cross-shaped  hilt 
of  his  sword.  And,  as  if  he  suddenly  knew 
that  that  could  help  him,  he  caught  it  and  held 
it  up  before  him  and  before  them  all. 


Bors  1 89 

And  as  he  held  it  up  he  heard  a  great  cry 
among  the  women,  and  the  priest  screamed  as 
if  an  arrow  had  struck  him.  And  then,  too, 
Bors  heard  a  great  wind  sweep  over  the  castle. 
It  was  only  for  an  instant,  and  in  that  instant 
there  was  a  crash  of  thunder  and  a  blinding 
flash  of  lightning.  The  next  instant  the  castle 
and  the  priest  and  the  women  were  all  gone. 
Bors  was  standing  alone  on  a  broad  plain,  hold- 
ing up  the  cross-shaped  hilt  of  his  sword.  The 
only  living  thing  near  him  was  his  own  horse. 
A  cold  wind  was  sweeping  over  the  plain.  In 
the  west  there  was  a  dull,  red  glow  of  sunset 
and  above  it  there  was  one  pale  star. 

Bors  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  away  to 
find  a  place  to  stay  for  the  night.  When  he 
had  ridden  some  way  he  heard  a  bell  and  came 
to  an  abbey.  He  knocked  at  the  gate  and  a  monk 
came  and  opened  it.  When  the  monk  had  let 
him  in,  Bors  asked  him  if  there  was  any  wise 
man  here  who  could  tell  him  the  meaning  of 
all  the  adventures  that  he  had  had.  "  Our  ab- 
bot is  a  wise  man,"  the  monk  answered.  "  Per- 
haps he  can  tell  you." 

So  he  led  Bors  to  the  abbot  and  Bors  told 
him  everything  that  had  befallen  him  since  he 
left  the  knights  of  the  Round  Table.  "  And  it 
has  been  so  strange,"  he  said,  "  that  I  do  not 
know  whether  all  that  I  have  done  has  been 
right  or  wrong." 


190     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  You  have  done  right,  Sir  Bors,"  the  abbot: 
answered.  "  It  was  right  for  you  to  leave  your 
brother  and  save  the  woman  from  the  robbers. 
Your  brother  is  a  man  and  a  knight  and  he 
must  take  whatever  adventure  comes  to  him. 
It  was  your  duty  to  help  the  woman  who 
needed  you,  before  you  tried  to  help  another 
knight,  even  though  he  was  your  brother. 
And  your  brother  is  not  dead.  Gawain  met 
him  and  rescued  him.  The  man  in  the  dress  of 
a  priest,  who  told  you  that  he  was  dead,  was 
not  a  priest.  He  was  a  wicked  enchanter.  He 
told  you  that  you  had  done  wrong  and  he  took 
you  to  the  castle  where  the  feasting  was,  to 
make  you  forget  the  Holy  Grail.  But  you 
were  too  faithful  to  your  promise  and 'too  firm 
for  him,  and  I  am  sure,  Sir  Bors,  that  you  will 
be  one  of  those  who  will  see  the  Holy  Grail." 

Bors  went  on  his  way  again  in  the  morning 
and  soon  he  met  a  man  who  told  him  that  there 
was  to  be  a  tournament  at  a  castle  not  far  off. 
So  Bors  went  toward  the  castle,  for  he  thought 
that  at  the  tournament  he  might  find  his 
brother  or  some  of  his  other  friends  of  the 
Round  Table.  And  as  he  came  near  the  castle 
he  saw  his  brother  sitting  beside  the  road,  and 
his  horse  standing  near.  Bors  had  not  felt  so 
glad  since  he  left  Camelot  to  seek  the  Holy 
Grail  as  he  did  now  to  see  his  brother  alive  and 
well.  He  got  off  his  horse  and  went  toward 


Bors  191 

him,  but  Lionel  only  started  up  angrily  and  got 
on  his  horse  and  made  ready  his  spear.  "  Bors," 
he  cried,  "  you  ran  away  from  me  to  help  some 
strange  woman,  and  you  would  have  let  my  en- 
emies kill  me.  It  was  the  unkindest  thing  that 
ever  one  brother  did  to  another.  Now  get 
on  your  horse  and  defend  yourself  or  I  shall 
kill  you  where  you  stand." 

But  Bors  would  not  move.  He  begged  his 
brother  not  to  do  so  wicked  a  thing  as  to  mur- 
der him  or  to  make  him  fight  with  him,  but 
Lionel  would  not  listen.  When  he  saw  that 
Bors  would  not  defend  himself  he  drove  his 
horse  against  him  and  tried  to  throw  him  down 
and  ride  over  him.  But  Bors  caught  the 
horse's  bridle,  and  then  Lionel  dismounted  and 
drew  his  sword  and  came  against  him.  Then 
there  was  nothing  for  Bors  to  do  but  to  draw 
his  own  sword  and  defend  himself.  But  as  he 
lifted  his  sword  he  heard,  or  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  heard,  a  strange  voice,  that  rang  in  his 
ears  and  said :  "  Bors,  do  not  strike  your 
brother,  for  if  you  do  you  will  kill  him." 

And  then  all  at  once  they  could  not  see  each 
other,  for  there  was  a  cloud  between  them,  all 
of  fire,  as  it  seemed,  and  it  scorched  their  faces 
and  dazzled  their  eyes.  And  Bors  heard  the 
voice  again,  saying :  "  Bors,  leave  this  place 
and  go  to  the  sea,  for  Percivale  is  there  in  a 
ship  waiting  for  you." 


192     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

So  Bors  turned  away  and  took  his  horse  and 
rode  for  a  long  way,  and  then  he  saw  the  water 
before  him  and  a  ship,  all  covered  with  cano- 
pies of  white  silk,  lying  beside  the  shore.  And 
he  went  on  board  the  ship,  and  as  soon  as  he 
was  there  it  left  the  shore  and  went  swiftly  out 
into  the  sea. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

PERCIVALE 

THIS  was  the  adventure  that  Percivale  had. 
When  he  had  parted  from  his  fellows  and  was 
riding-  alone  he  met  a  company  of  twenty 
knights.  They  stood  across  his  path  and 
asked  him  who  he  was  and  whence  he  came. 
"  I  am  Sir  Percivale,"  he  answered,  "  and  I 
come  from  the  court  of  King  Arthur." 

"  Then  we  will  kill  you,"  they  cried,  "  for  we 
are  enemies  of  King  Arthur  and  of  all  his 
knights." 

Then  they  dropped  the  points  of  their  spears 
and  rushed  upon  him,  and  he  struck  down  the 
first  that  came  with  his  spear.  But  half  a 
dozen  of  the  others  came  upon  him  all  at 
once,  and  some  of  the  rest  killed  his  horse,  so 
that  he  was  thrown  down  and  was  helpless 
among  them.  Then,  when  he  thought  that  his 
last  moment  was  surely  come,  he  heard  the 
sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  and  then  a  shout,  and 
13  »93 


194     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

then  he  saw  the  flash  of  a  bright,  flame-colored 
armor  coming  toward  him.  In  an  instant  the 
knight  who  wore  it  was  among  them,  and  he 
had  struck  down  some  of  them  with  his  spear, 
and  then  he  had  drawn  his  sword  and  he  was 
laying  about  him  with  it.  No  one  who  felt 
one  stroke  of  that  sword  stayed  to  feel  an- 
other. Some  fell  and  could  not  rise,  and  oth- 
ers turned  and  fled,  and  soon  there  was  none 
left  to  do  any  harm  to  Percivale.  Then  the 
knight  in  the  flame-colored  arms  went  away 
too,  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  go,  and  all  that 
Percivale  saw  of  him  was  a  last  glimmer  of  his 
armor  among  the  trees. 

Percivale  knew  that  this  was  Galahad,  and 
he  wished  that  he  could  follow  him  and  go  with 
him  on  his  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  But  he 
had  no  horse  and  Galahad  was  out  of  sight, 
and  he  could  do  no  more  than  go  as  fast  as  he 
could  on  foot  the  way  that  Galahad  had  gone. 
And  so  he  went  on,  not  hoping  to  overtake 
Galahad,  and  scarcely  knowing  what  he  did, 
till  night  came  on  and  it  grew  so  dark  that  he 
could  not  see  his  way,  and  he  was  so  weary 
and  so  faint  that  he  felt  that  he  could  go  no 
farther.  Then  he  sank  down,  just  where  he 
was,  upon  the  ground,  and  slept. 

When  he  awoke  it  was  midnight.  The 
moon  was  shining,  and  by  the  dim  light  he  saw 
a  girl  standing  beside  him.  It  was  she  who 


Per  civ  ale  195 

had  awakened  him.  "  Knight,"  she  said,  "  what 
are  you  doing  here?  Have  you  nothing  bet- 
ter to  do  than  to  lie  asleep  beside  the  road  ? 
Where  is  your  horse  ?  " 

"  My  horse  was  killed,"  he  answered,  "  by 
some  knights  who  fell  upon  me  and  nearly 
killed  me  too.  Then  I  came  so  far  without 
him  and  grew  so  weary  that  I  sank  down  and 
slept  here  where  you  have  found  me." 

"  I  will  give  you  a  horse,"  the  girl  said,  "  if 
you  will  take  him  from  me." 

"  There  is  nothing  that  I  need,"  said  Perci- 
vale,  "  so  much  as  a  horse,  and  if  you  can  find 
me  one  I  shall  be  grateful  to  you." 

The  girl  went  away  and  soon  she  came  back 
leading  a  great,  black  horse,  with  rich  trap- 
pings, and  she  told  Percivale  to  take  him. 
The  instant  that  Percivale  was  in  the  saddle 
the  horse  was  away  like  the  wind.  Percivale 
could  not  stop  him  or  turn  him.  He  went 
where  he  liked,  and  Percivale  was  sure  that  in 
all  his  life  he  had  never  ridden  so  fast.  No, 
nor  a  tenth  part  as  fast,  for  sometimes,  as  this 
mad  horse  carried  him  along,  he  saw  places 
that  he  knew,  and  within  an  hour  he  saw  some 
that  he  knew  were  a  day's  journey  apart. 
And  all  at  once  he  heard  a  dull  roar  and  saw 
the  ocean  before  him.  The  horse  was  going 
straight  into  it,  as  it  seemed,  and  when  Perci- 
vale saw  that,  he  drew  his  sword  and  held  it  by 


196     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  blade  and  struck  the  horse's  neck  with  the 
cross-shaped  hilt.  Then  the  horse  gave  a  great 
leap  and  threw  Percivale  off  his  back.  He  fell 
on  the  very  edge  of  the  water  and  the  horse 
plunged  into  it.  And  where  he  disappeared 
there  sprang  up  a  great  flame,  bright  blue,  and 
it  went  out  and  left  a  thick,  black  smoke  be- 
hind it.  The  wind  blew  the  smoke  away,  and 
there  was  nothing  more  to  see  but  the  great 
waves  rolling  toward  the  shore  and  dashing 
against  the  rocks. 

Then  the  weariness  and  faintness  came  upon 
Percivale  once  more,  and  he  lay  down  there 
on  the  rough  rocks  of  the  sea-shore  and  slept 
again.  It  was  morning  when  he  awoke.  As 
he  looked  around  him  he  saw  that  the  rocks 
about  him  were  so  high  that  they  made  a 
mountain  and  the  water  seemed  to  be  all 
around  it,  or  nearly  so.  And  as  he  was  look- 
ing for  a  way  to  get  back  to  the  mainland  he 
saw  coming  toward  him  a  great  serpent,  car- 
rying a  young  lion  in  its  mouth.  An  old  lion 
was  following,  and  it  came  up  and  began  to 
fight  with  the  serpent,  but  it  could  not  make  it 
drop  the  young  lion.  Then  Percivale  thought 
that  of  the  two  beasts  he  liked  the  lion  better, 
and  that  he  would  try  to  help  it.  So  he  drew 
his  sword  and  put  his  shield  before  him  and 
ran  to  the  serpent  and  cut  off  its  head. 

And  the  old  lion  went  to  the  cub  and  found 


Percivale  197 

that  it  was  not  much  hurt,  and  then  it  came  to 
Percivale  and  licked  his  hand,  as  a  dog  would, 
and  tried  to  thank  him  for  saving  the  cub. 
After  that  it  carried  the  cub  away,  but  in  a 
little  while  it  came  back  and  stayed  with  Perci- 
vale all  day,  and  at  night,  when  Percivale  lay 
down  to  sleep,  the  lion  watched  beside  him. 

The  next  morning  Percivale  saw  a  ship  com- 
ing toward  the  land.  It  came  close  to  the  rock 
where  he  was  and  he  could  see  no  one  in  it  but 
one  old  man,  in  the  dress  of  a  priest.  It  had 
been  so  long  since  Percivale  had  had  any  friend 
but  the  lion  that  he  was  glad  to  see  the  priest 
and  he  told  him  who  he  was  and  how  he  had 
come  there,  and  that  he  did  not  know  how  to 
get  away  from  the  place. 

"  Do  not  try  to  find  any  more  adventures 
now,"  the  priest  answered,  "  but  come  into  this 
ship  and  wait  in  it  for  the  adventures  that  will 
come  to  you." 

So  Percivale  went  on  board  the  ship  and  at 
once  it  started  out  into  the  sea.  He  did  not 
see  the  priest  again  and  he  could  not  tell  where 
he  had  gone,  but  he  could  see  the  lion  still 
standing  on  the  shore  and  looking  after  him, 
till  the  ship  had  gone  so  far  that  he  could  no 
longer  make  it  out.  And  Percivale  must  have 
slept  again  in  the  ship,  though  he  did  not  know 
how  long.  But  he  awoke  and  saw  a  man  bend- 
ing over  him,  and  the  man  was  Bors. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

GALAHAD 

WHEN  Galahad  left  Camelot  he  had  no  shield. 
He  had  carried  none  in  the  tournament  and  he 
had  done  better  without  one  than  any  of  the 
other  knights.  He  still  had  none  when  the 
knights  parted.  He  rode  alone  for  four  days 
without  any  adventure.  It  was  then  that  he 
came  to  an  abbey  and  went  in  to  spend  the 
night.  Another  knight  of  the  Round  Table  had 
come  there  before  him,  and  as  they  sat  talking 
together  the  monks  told  them  of  a  shield  that 
they  had.  It  had  been  in  the  abbey  for  many 
years,  they  said,  and  it  had  been  foretold  that 
no  one  except  the  best  knight  of  the  world 
should  ever  carry  it  without  coming  to  some 
harm. 

"  I  will  take  that  shield  to-morrow  morning," 

said  the  knight,  "  and  see  what  comes  of  it.     I 

do   not   think   myself   the   best  knight  of   the 

world,  but  I  do  not  fear  any  adventure   that 

198 


Galahad  199 

may  befall  me.  And  you,  Sir  Galahad — if  you 
will,  you  may  wait  here  for  a  little  while  to 
know  if  I  come  to  any  harm,  and  then  I  am 
sure  that  you  can  bear  this  shield,  if  I  cannot." 

"  It  shall  be  as  you  say,"  said  Galahad,  "  and 
I  will  wait  to  hear  from  you." 

In  the  morning  the  knight  asked  for  the 
shield,  and  the  monks  brought  it  to  him.  It 
was  white,  with  a  red  cross  upon  it.  The 
knight  took  it  and  rode  away  with  his  squire, 
and  Galahad  waited.  He  did  not  wait  long, 
for  before  noon  the  knight  was  brought  back 
to  the  abbey  so  badly  wounded  that  they  could 
scarcely  tell  at  first  whether  he  would  live  or 
die.  The  squire  came  with  him  and  brought 
the  shield.  He  brought  it  straight  to  Galahad 
and  said :  "  Sir  Galahad,  we  met  a  knight  who 
fought  with  my  lord  and  wounded  him  as  you 
see.  Then  the  knight  told  me  to  bring  the 
shield  to  you  and  to  say  that  no  one  but  you 
ought  to  carry  it." 

"  Then  tell  me,"  said  Galahad  to  the  monks, 
"  what  this  shield  is  and  why  no  one  may  use  it 
but  me." 

"  It  was  King  Evelake's  shield,"  one  of  the 
monks  answered.  "  In  the  time  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathasa,  Evelake  was  King  of  the  City  of 
Sarras.  He  bore  this  shield  in  a  great  battle 
that  he  fought,  and  it  was  Joseph  who  made 
this  red  cross  upon  it  for  him.  Afterward  he 


2OO     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

came  to  England  with  Joseph.  When  he  died 
the  shield  was  left  here  in  this  abbey  and  Jo- 
seph foretold  that  it  should  never  be  borne 
with  safety  by  anyone  till  the  best  knight  of 
the  world  should  come." 

When  Galahad  heard  that,  he  took  the  shield 
and  made  ready  to  go  on  his  way.  But  first  he 
asked  the  monks  about  his  fellow  of  the  Round 
Table,  and  they  told  him  that  he  had  been 
nearly  killed,  but  that  they  could  cure  him. 

I  have  told  you  already  some  of  the  things 
that  Galahad  did.  You  know  how  he  over- 
came both  Lancelot  and  Gawain,  how  he  drove 
the  murderers  out  of  the  Castle  of  Maidens,  and 
how  he  saved  Percivale  from  his  enemies.  It 
was  after  all  these  things  that  he  was  sleeping 
one  night  in  the  cell  of  a  hermit,  and  a  woman 
came  to  the  door  and  called  to  him.  The  her- 
mit opened  the  door  and  she  said  to  him :  "  I 
must  speak  to  the  knight  who  is  here  with 
you." 

Then  the  hermit  awoke  Galahad  and  told 
him  that  there  was  a  woman  at  the  door  who 
said  that  she  must  speak  to  him.  So  Galahad 
went  to  the  door  and  she  told  him  that  he  must 
put  on  his  armor  and  come  with  her.  Galahad 
did  not  know  who  she  was  or  what  she  wanted 
of  him,  but  something  made  him  feel  sure  that 
he  ought  to  do  what  she  said.  He  put  on  his 
armor  and  rode  with  her  for  the  rest  of  the 


Galahad  201 

night  and  all  the  next  day,  and  then,  as  it  was 
getting  toward  night  again,  they  came  to  a 
castle. 

The  lady  of  the  castle  welcomed  them  and 
told  Galahad  that  he  must  eat  and  sleep  a  little 
and  then  be  ready  to  ride  again.  It  was  still 
night  when  they  came  and  woke  him,  and  he 
put  on  his  armor  and  rode  again  with  the 
woman  who  had  brought  him  to  the  castle. 
It  was  only  a  little  way  that  they  rode  this 
time  and  then  they  came  to  the  sea-side  and 
saw  a  ship,  all  covered  with  canopies  of  white 
silk.  They  went  on  board  and  found  Percivale 
and  Bors.  As  soon  as  Galahad  and  the  wom- 
an were  in  the  ship  it  left  the  land  and  went 
straight  out  into  the  open  sea. 

When  the  three  knights  had  greeted  one  an- 
other and  when  each  had  told  the  others  some- 
thing of  where  he  had  been  and  what  he  had 
done  since  they  had  parted  last,  Galahad  said  : 
"  I  should  never  have  found  you  here  if  this 
woman  had  not  brought  me  and  shown  me  the 
way,  and  I  am  sure  that  you  must  thank  her  as 
much  as  I  for  bringing  us  together." 

Then  the  woman  said :  "  Percivale,  do  you 
know  who  I  am  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Percivale,  "  I  do  not  know  you." 

"  I  am  your  sister,"  she  said,  "  whom  you 
have  not  seen  since  you  first  went  to  King  Ar- 
thur's court." 


2O2     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

Then  they  all  stood  together,  talking  and 
looking  out  upon  the  dim  sea,  till  slowly  they 
began  to  see  it  more  plainly  and  the  sky  grew 
lighter  and  the  stars  faded  away  in  it,  and  a  faint 
and  then  a  brighter  glow  rose  in  the  east  and  the 
day  came.  When  it  was  fully  light  Percivale's 
sister  said  :  "  Come^now  and  let  me  show  you 
what  there  is  in  this  ship  that  you  have  not 
seen." 

She  led  them  to  another  part  of  the  ship  and 
there  they  saw  a  sword  in  a  scabbard.  The 
hilt  of  the  sword  was  set  with  jewels  and  the 
scabbard  seemed  to  be  of  serpent's  skin.  It 
was  all  rich  and  beautiful  except  the  girdle 
which  was  fastened  to  it,  and  that  was  of  hemp 
and  looked  poor  and  weak.  "  Galahad,"  said 
Percivale's  sister,  "  this  sword  is  for  you,  and 
I  must  tell  you  how  long  it  has  been  waiting 
for  you.  It  was  King  David's  sword,  and  his 
son,  King  Solomon,  built  this  ship  and  put  this 
sword  in  it  and  said  that  it  should  be  for  the 
best  knight  of  the  world  and  for  no  other. 
King  Solomon  was  the  wisest  man  that  ever 
lived,  yet  he  had  a  wife  who  in  one  thing  was 
wiser  than  he.  For  she  was  to  make  a  girdle 
for  this  sword,  and  she  made  this  poor  one  of 
hemp  that  you  see.  When  the  King  saw  it  he 
was  angry  and  he  told  her  that  such  a  sword  as 
this  ought  to  have  the  best  girdle  in  the  world, 
not  the  worst.  '  That  is  true,  my  lord,'  she  an- 


Galahad  203 

swered,  '  but  I  had  nothing  that  was  fit  for  the 
best  girdle  in  the  world,  and  so  I  have  made 
this  one.  And  this  one  shall  stay  on  the  sword 
till  it  is  time  for  the  best  knight  of  the  world 
to  come  and  take  it.  Then  the  sword  shall 
have  a  new  girdle.  It  shall  be  made  by  another 
woman,  a  young  maiden,  and  she  shall  make  it 
of  what  she  loves  best  and  is  proudest  of  in  all 
the  world.'  And  when  Solomon  had  built  the 
ship  and  put  the  sword  in  it,  and  his  wife  had 
put  the  girdle  of  hemp  on  the  sword,  they  saw 
the  ship,  all  of  itself,  move  out  to  sea,  and  it 
passed  out  of  their  sight  and  they  never  heard 
of  it  again.  And  ever  since  King  Solomon's 
time  this  ship  has  floated  on  the  sea,  and  now  I 
have  brought  you  to  it,  Galahad,  to  take  this 
sword  which  is  yours." 

"  This  is  a  wonderful  story  that  you  have 
told  us,"  Galahad  said.  "  How  have  you  learned 
these  things?" 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,"  she  said.  "  It  seems  to 
me  that  I  know  them  without  learning  them. 
It  is  the  Holy  Grail,  I  think,  that  has  given  me 
the  knowledge  of  them,  but  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  ;  only,  when  I  have  seen  the  Holy  Grail, 
I  have  thought  that  all  at  once  I  knew  many 
wonderful  things  that  I  did  not  know  before." 

"The  Holy  Grail?"  said  Galahad.  "You 
have  seen  it  then  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she    answered,   "  many  times.     You 


204     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

knights  go  far  to  seek  the  Holy  Grail,  but  it 
has  come  to  me  without  my  seeking  it.  Now, 
Galahad,  take  your  sword,  for  soon  we  must 
leave  this  ship." 

"  But  where  is  the  new  girdle  for  the  sword  ?  " 
said  Galahad.  "  It  seems  to  me  that  this  old 
one  of  hemp  will  scarcely  hold  it.  And  who  is 
the  maiden  who  is  to  make  the  new  girdle  ?  " 

"I  am  she,"  said  Percivale's  sister,  "and  I 
have  made  the  girdle  and  have  brought  it.  It 
is  made  of  my  own  hair.  It  was  long  and 
beautiful  once,  like  fine  threads  of  gold,  and  I 
was  proud  of  it  and  loved  it  more  than  any- 
thing else  in  the  world.  But  when  I  had  seen 
the  Holy  Grail  and  when  I  knew  of  this  sword 
and  knew  that  it  was  I  who  must  make  the  new 
girdle  for  it,  then  I  cut  off  my  hair  and  wove  it 
into  a  girdle." 

Then  she  took  the  girdle  out  of  a  casket  that 
she  had  brought,  and  it  was  indeed  like  a  broad 
band  of  soft  gold.  And  she  fastened  it  upon 
the  sword  and  bound  the  sword  upon  Galahad's 
side. 

They  saw  that  the  ship  was  coming  near  the 
land  again  and  soon  it  touched  the  shore. 
They  all  went  on  shore,  and  when  they  had 
gone  a  little  way  they  saw  a  great  castle  before 
them.  When  the  three  knights  and  Percivale's 
sister  came  near  the  castle,  men  came  out  of  it 
and  told  them  that  they  could  not  pass  till  they 


I  CUT  OFF   MY   HAIR   AND   WOVE    IT  INTO  A   GIRDLE." 


Galahad  205 

had  done  the  custom  of  the  castle.  And  the 
custom  of  the  castle  was  that  the  maiden  must 
give  a  silver  dish  full  of  her  blood  to  cure  a 
sick  lady.  The  three  knights  would  have 
fought  the  men  of  the  castle  and  tried  to  pass 
by  force,  but  Percivale's  sister  would  not  let 
them  do  it.  "  The  lady  of  the  castle  shall  have 
my  blood,"  she  said,  "  and  it  will  cure  her." 

"  But  if  you  lose  so  much  blood,"  said  Gala- 
had, "  you  may  die  yourself." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  "  I  shall  die,  but  it  is 
no  matter  for  that.  All  that  I  had  to  live  for 
was  to  give  you  the  sword  that  you  have,  to 
make  the  girdle  for  it  of  my  hair,  and  to  cure 
this  lady.  When  I  have  done  that  I  shall  have 
done  all  that  I  had  to  do.  Now  let  me  tell  you 
what  to  do  when  I  am  dead.  When  I  am  dead, 
do  not  bury  me  here,  but  put  me  in  the  ship 
that  we  have  come  in.  Leave  me  in  it  alone 
and  go  on  your  way.  You  will  see  me  again 
sooner  than  you  think,  but  there  is  something 
still  for  you  to  do  here.  You  must  go  to  the 
Castle  of  Carbonekto  heal  King  Pelles's  wound. 
After  that  you  three  must  bring  the  Holy  Grail 
to  the  City  of  Sarras.  I  shall  be  there  as  soon 
as  you  and  there  you  must  bury  me.  And  two 
of  you  will  not  live  long  after  that,  and  you 
will  be  buried  beside  me.  For  you,  Galahad, 
and  you,  my  brother  Percivale,  will  stay  there 
with  me,  and  then  you,  Bors,  must  come  back 


206     The  Knigkts  of  the  Round  Table 

to  England  and  tell  the  King  and  the  rest  all 
that  we  have  seen  and  done.  Now  let  us  talk 
of  it  no  more.  The  Holy  Grail  has  shown  me 
all  that  I  must  do  and  neither  you  nor  I  must 
try  to  change  it." 

All  this,  you  may  be  sure,  made  the  three 
knights  very  sad,  but  Percivale's  sister  had 
shown  them  and  had  told  them  so  much  that 
was  wonderful  that  they  did  not  dare  to  dis- 
obey her.  They  all  stayed  in  the  castle  that 
night.  In  the  morning  Percivale's  sister  gave 
the  silver  dish  full  of  her  blood  and  it  cured  the 
lady  of  the  castle,  and  soon  after  that  Perci- 
vale's sister  died. 

The  three  knights  carried  her  to  the  shore 
and  put  her  into  the  ship  again,  as  she  had  told 
them  to  do.  As  soon  as  they  were  on  the 
shore  again,  the  ship  started  out  to  sea  and 
they  stood  and  watched  it.  It  went  away  from 
them  swiftly  and  they  looked  till  its  canopies 
of  white  silk  seemed  no  more  than  the  wings  of 
a  sea-bird  resting  on  the  water,  and  then,  with 
a  last  fading  flash  in  the  morning  sunlight  on 
the  edge  of  the  ocean  and  the  sky,  it  was  gone. 
Yet  still  they  watched  and  they  saw  a  little 
brown  spot  of  mist  rise  up  where  the  ship  had 
vanished.  It  grew  larger  and  came  toward 
them  and  spread  over  the  sky  and  shut  off  the 
water  from  their  eyes  and  it  wrapped  them  all 
around.  They  could  scarcely  see  the  path  be- 


Galahad  207 

fore  them  as  they  turned  to  go  away.  The 
cold,  damp,  sad  mist  cloud  was  over  all  the 
land  and  the  ocean,  only  before  them  there  was 
a  pale,  silvery  shimmer  of  the  sun  still  shining 
on  the  cloud. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   CITY   OF   SARRAS 

THE  knights  went  to  the  castle  and  found 
horses,  and  mounted  and  rode  toward  the  Cas- 
tle of  Carbonek.  The  silvery  shimmer  of  the 
sun  upon  the  mist  grew  brighter.  The  mist 
itself  grew  thinner  and  lighter  and  at  last  it  all 
melted  away  into  the  clear  air,  and  the  sun 
shone  warmly  upon  the  fields  and  the  woods, 
which  the  morning  mist  had  left  cool  and  fresh 
and  dewy.  The  knights  did  not  speak  much  to 
one  another.  They  were  thinking  too  much  of 
what  had  passed.  And  so  they  rode  till  late  in 
the  day,  and  then  they  saw  the  Castle  of  Car- 
bonek before  them. 

Everything  there  was  as  if  they  had  been  ex- 
pected. The  porters  opened  the  gate  for  them, 
King  Pelles's  men  led  them  to  chambers,  where 
they  took  off  their  armor,  and  then  to  the  great 
hall,  and  there  they  found  places  ready  for 
them  at  the  table  and  the  table  laid,  though 
208 


The  City  of  Sarras  209 

with  no  food  upon  it.  When  they  had  sat 
down,  King  Pelles  was  brought  in  and  was 
placed  at  the  table,  too.  "  Galahad,"  he  said, 
"no  one  could  be  more  glad  to  see  you  than  I 
am,  for  I  know  that  you  have  come  to  cure  my 
wound.  I  have  suffered  with  it  every  day  for 
all  these  many  years;  yes,  since  long  before  you 
were  born.  And  all  that  time  I  have  known  that 
no  one  could  cure  it  but  you,  and  so  I  have  waited 
and  waited  for  you  to  grow  up  and  be  a  knight 
and  go  out  in  the  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail,  for 
I  knew  that  it  was  not  till  then  that  you  could 
come  to  cure  me.  I  have  tried  to  be  patient  all 
these  years,  but  now,  Galahad,  that  you  have 
come,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  could  not  bear  this 
wound  another  day." 

When  the  King  had  said  this,  the  dove  that 
carried  the  little  golden  censer  in  its  peak  flew 
into  the  hall,  as  it  had  done  when  Bors  was 
there  before,  long  ago.  The  thin  smoke  floated 
through  the  room  and  it  was  filled  again  with 
that  sweet  odor  that  Bors  remembered.  Then 
a  door  of  the  hall  opened  and  an  old  man — the 
same  whom  Bors  had  seen  before,  the  same 
who  had  brought  Galahad  to  the  Siege  Peril- 
ous— came  in.  He  carried  the  Holy  Grail  it- 
self, and  this  time  there  was  no  covering  of  silk 
upon  it.  It  was  not  the  old  rosy  glow  that 
came  from  the  cup  now.  The  blood  that  was 
in  it  shone  like  one  clear,  red  gem,  resting  in 
14 


2io     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  pure  crystal  of  the  cup.  It  shone  brighter, 
the  knights  thought,  than  any  light  they  had 
ever  seen  before,  yet  it  did  not  hurt  their  eyes 
when  they  looked  at  it.  The  beams  that  came 
from  it  made  a  broad  halo  of  beautiful  colors 
all  about  it,  and  the  light  that  it  shed  through 
the  room  was  like  the  light  of  day,  only  brighter 
and  clearer,  and  everything  that  was  seen  in  it 
looked  finer  and  more  beautiful. 

The  old  man  held  the  Holy  Grail  high  up 
above  his  head  for  them  to  see  it  better,  and 
then  he  put  it  on  the  little  table  of  gold  and 
silver  that  was  in  the  room.  Another  door  of 
the  hall  was  opened  and  four  boys  came  in 
and  brought  the  spear  with  the  drops  of  blood 
flowing  from  the  point.  They  came  and  stood 
with  it  before  the  old  man  and  he  looked  at  the 
spear  and  then  he  looked  at  Galahad.  Galahad 
rose  from  the  table  and  went  to  the  spear  and 
touched  the  blood  on  the  point  of  it  with  his 
fingers.  Then  he  went  to  the  King  and  touched 
the  wound  in  his  side  with  the  blood,  and  at 
once  the  wound  was  healed.  The  King  stood 
up  for  a  moment  and  felt  that  his  strength  and 
his  health  had  come  back  to  him,  and  then  he 
sank  down  again  in  his  place  and  scarcely 
moved,  but  gazed  at  the  Holy  Grail  and  at  the 
spear  and  at  Galahad. 

"Galahad,"  said  the  old  man,  "you  have 
done  now  all  that  you  had  to  do  here.  You 


The   City  of  Sarras  2 1 1 

have  seen  the  Holy  Grail  and  you  have  healed 
the  King's  wound.  To-morrow  you  must  leave 
this  land,  and  the  Holy  Grail  will  leave  it  too. 
Go  to-morrow,  with  your  two  fellows,  to  the 
sea.  There  you  will  find  your  ship.  You 
must  go  in  it  to  the  City  of  Sarras  and  you 
must  take  the  Holy  Grail  with  you.  When 
you  are  there,  you  will  know  what  more  you 
have  to  do." 

The  old  man  lifted  the  Holy  Grail  again  and 
went  out  of  the  hall  with  it,  and  the  boys  who 
carried  the  spear  followed  him.  The  table  was 
covered  with  food  and  wine  now  and  they  all 
ate  and  drank,  and  then  they  all  left  the  hall 
and  slept  till  morning. 

In  the  morning  Galahad  and  Percivale  and 
Bors  left  the  Castle  of  Carbonek  and  went  to 
the  shore.  And  there,  as  the  old  man  had  said, 
they  found  a  ship.  As  soon  as  they  were  on 
board  they  saw  that  the  Holy  Grail  was  there 
before  them.  It  stood  on  the  table  of  gold  and 
silver  and  the  covering  of  white  silk  was  over 
it  again. 

The  knights  did  not  know  how  long  they 
were  in  that  magic  ship,  or  what  way  or  how 
far  they  went.  They  were  moving  swiftly  al- 
ways, they  slept  and  they  awoke,  and  they  saw 
sunlight  and  moonlight  and  starlight.  The 
Holy  Grail  was  always  with  them  and  they 
never  felt  hunger  or  cold  or  weariness.  And 


212     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

while  they  were  in  the  ship  Galahad  told  Per- 
civale  and  Bors  that  he  had  prayed  that  he 
might  leave  this  world  whenever  he  wished  it, 
and  he  knew  that  his  prayer  would  be  answered. 
And  one  morning,  just  as  the  sun  was  rising, 
they  saw  a  low  bank  of  white  mist  far  before 
them,  and  above  the  mist  they  could  see  the 
pale,  silvery  lines  of  spires  and  towers  and 
domes,  and  they  knew  that  this  was  the  City  of 
Sarras.  The  ship  brought  them  quickly  nearer 
and  nearer,  and  as  they  came  into  the  harbor 
they  saw  another  ship  going  in  before  them. 
It  was  all  covered  with  white,  and  they  knew 
that  it  was  the  ship  that  carried  Percivale's  sis- 
ter. 

When  they  came  to  the  shore  they  took  hold 
of  the  table  with  the  Holy  Grail  upon  it  to 
carry  it  out  of  the  ship.  But  it  was  too  heavy 
for  them  and  they  looked  about  to  find  some 
one  to  help  them.  The  nearest  man  was  an  old 
cripple  who  sat  begging.  Galahad  called  to 
him  and  told  him  to  come  and  help  them  carry 
the  table.  "  I  cannot  help  you,"  he  said  ;  "  it  is 
many  years  since  I  could  even  stand,  except 
with  crutches." 

"  No  matter  for  that,"  said  Galahad,  "  come 
and  do  your  best."  And  the  old  cripple  came 
and  helped  them,  and  he  was  as  strong  and  as 
well  as  any  man.  They  carried  the  table  and 
the  Holy  Grail  to  the  cathedral  and  left  them 


The  City  of  Sarras  213 

before  the  altar,  and  then  they  came  back  to  the 
shore  and  brought  Percivale's  sister  out  of  the 
ship  and  up  to  the  cathedral  too,  and  buried 
her  there. 

When  the  King  of  Sarras  heard  of  the 
strange  knights  who  had  come  and  of  the  crip- 
ple who  had  been  healed,  he  sent  for  the  knights 
and  asked  them  who  they  were  and  whence 
they  came.  Now  this  King  was  a  tyrant,  and 
when  Galahad  had  told  him  all  about  the  Holy 
Grail  he  began  to  be  afraid  of  these  knights,  for 
he  feared  that  they  would  have  more  power 
over  the  people  than  he  had  himself.  So  he 
sent  all  three  of  them  to  prison.  But  as  soon 
as  they  were  in  prison  the  Holy  Grail  came  to 
them  of  itself,  and  it  stayed  with  them  and  fed 
them,  as  it  had  fed  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  when 
he  was  in  prison.  And,  like  him,  they  scarcely 
knew  how  long  they  were  there.  But  when 
they  had  been  in  prison  for  a  year  the  King 
was  sick  and  felt  that  he  was  going  to  die,  and 
then  he  began  to  have  worse  fears  than  before. 

So  he  sent  for  the  three  knights  again  and 
told  them  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  putting 
them  in  prison  and  begged  them  to  forgive 
him.  "  We  forgive  you,"  Galahad  answered  ; 
"  you  had  no  power  to  harm  us,  for  the  Holy 
Grail  was  always  with  us." 

Then  the  King  said  to  Galahad  :  "  I  am  sure 
that  I  shall  die  soon  and  I  wish  that  you  might 


214     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

be  King  here  after  me,  for  I  know  that  my  peo- 
ple could  have  no  better  king  than  you." 

So  it  was  agreed,  and  soon  after  that  the 
King  died  and  Galahad  was  crowned  in  his 
place.  When  Galahad  was  King  the  Holy 
Grail  was  put  before  the  altar  in  the  cathedral 
again  and  Galahad  had  a  chest  made  to  cover 
it.  And  every  day  he  and  Percivale  and  Bors 
went  to  the  cathedral  to  pray  before  it. 

And  one  day,  when  Galahad  had  been  King 
of  Sarras  for  a  year,  he  told  Percivale  and  Bors 
that  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  leave  this 
world,  and  they  must  come  with  him  to  the  ca- 
thedral now  for  the  last  time.  So  they  went  to 
the  cathedral  together  and  they  saw  an  old  man 
kneeling  at  the  altar.  He  was  the  same  old 
man  whom  they  had  seen  so  many  times  before, 
who  had  been  made  to  live  so  far  beyond  his 
time  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Grail,  Joseph 
of  Arimathasa.  On  the  altar  before  him  lay  the 
spear  with  the  drops  of  blood  flowing  from  its 
point. 

The  three  knights  knelt  before  the  altar,  Gal- 
ahad nearer  to  it  than  the  others,  and  they  were 
there  for  a  long  time.  Then  the  old  man  rose 
and  came  to  the  chest  where  the  Grail  was  and 
took  it  out  and  held  it  up  before  them,  and  the 
light  that  shone  from  the  blood  that  was  in  it, 
through  the  crystal  of  the  cup,  was  greater  and 
stronger  than  ever.  The  whole  cathedral  was 


The  City  of  Sarras  215 

bright  with  it.  It  streamed  up  among  the 
arches  of  the  roof  and  lighted  old  pictures  that 
were  painted  there.  For  years  before  they  had 
scarcely  been  seen,  they  were  so  dim  with  time 
and  with  dust  and  with  the  smoke  of  incense. 
Now,  with  the  light  of  the  Holy  Grail  upon 
it,  the  place  was  again  a  piece  of  Heaven,  filled 
with  wonderful  forms.  There  was  Elijah,  in 
his  chariot  of  fire  ;  there  were  saints  and  angels ; 
and  all  about  them  and  among  them  there  were 
little  stars  of  gold,  that  glowed  and  twinkled 
in  the  new  brightness  like  the  stars  of  the  real 
Heaven. 

The  old  man  set  the  Grail  upon  the  altar  and 
came  to  Galahad  and  touched  his  hand  and 
kissed  him.  Then  all  at  once  the  church  grew 
dark  and  Percivale  and  Bors  could  see  nothing 
but  the  Grail  and  the  spear  upon  the  altar  and 
the  old  man  who  stood  before  it.  He  took  the 
Grail  and  the  spear  and  then  he  seemed  to  rise 
and  to  go  farther  from  them,  though  they  could 
not  see  how  he  went.  It  seemed  to  them,  too, 
that  Galahad  was  with  him,  and  they  did  not 
see  that  the  form  of  Galahad  still  lay  before 
them  on  the  steps  of  the  altar. 

In  this  way  they  watched  for  a  long  time  and 
then  Percivale  said  to  Bors  :  "  Do  you  not  see, 
far  off  there  in  the  sky,  as  it  seems,  Galahad 
himself,  with  his  crown  and  his  royal  robes, 
holding  the  Holy  Grail  in  his  hands?" 


216     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"I  cannot  see  that,"  Bors  answered;  "the 
window  of  the  choir  is  open,  but  the  air  outside 
is  growing  darker.  I  see  a  little  cloud  that  the 
setting  sun  has  turned  all  to  crimson  and  to 
gold,  and  that  is  all." 

After  a  time  Percivale  said  again  :  "  Bors,  do 
you  not  see  now  ?  He  is  farther  away,  but  still 
I  can  see  the  shining  of  the  Holy  Grail." 

And  Bors  answered  :  "  Even  the  little  cloud 
is  gone  now,  and  where  it  was  a  bright  star  is 
shining.  I  can  see  no  more." 

And  again  Percivale  said  :  "  I  hear  music — 
trumpets  and  harps  and  voices — and  I  see  Gala- 
had still,  and  plainer  than  I  saw  him  before, 
holding  up  the  Holy  Grail.  Do  you  hear 
nothing,  Bors,  and  see  nothing?" 

"  I  heard  a  loud  wind,"  Bors  answered.  "  It 
passed  us  and  blew  against  the  window  of  the 
choir  and  shut  it.  I  cannot  see  the  sky  any 
more,  but  in  the  colored  glass  of  the  window  I 
see  Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  holding  up  the  Holy 
Grail,  but  I  cannot  see  him  clearly,  it  is  grow- 
ing so  dark  outside." 

And  still,  though  they  did  not  see  it  then,  the 
form  of  Galahad  lay  before  them  on  the  steps 
of  the  altar.  And  again  there  was  no  King  of 
Sarras.  They  buried  him,  Percivale  and  Bors, 
in  the  cathedral,  beside  Percivale's  sister.  And 
after  that  Percivale  found  a  cell  outside  the 
city  and  lived  there  as  a  hermit  for  a  time,  and 


The  City  of  Sarras  217 

then  he  died.  Bors  stayed  with  him  till  then, 
and  he  buried  him  in  the  cathedral,  with  his 
sister  and  Galahad.  And  when  he  had  done 
that  Bors  left  the  City  of  Sarras  and  went  on 
his  way  back  toward  England,  to  tell  King  Ar- 
thur the  last  of  the  story  of  the  Holy  Grail. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

STORIES   OF   STRANGE   STONES 

WHAT  I  wanted  to  find  was  Dozmare  Pool. 
I  had  heard  about  it  and  I  had  read  about  it, 
and  I  wanted  to  see  it.  I  studied  the  maps  and 
the  time-tables.  We  had  to  go  from  Penzance 
to  Exeter,  and  I  thought  that  if  we  got  off  the 
train  at  Liskeard  we  could  find  a  carriage  to 
take  us  to  Dozmare  Pool  and  back  in  time  to 
catch  another  train  and  get  to  Exeter  before 
night.  Then  it  turned  out  that  Helen's  mother 
did  not  care  about  going  to  Dozmare  Pool  at 
all. 

You  may  never  have  noticed  it,  but  one  of 
the  best  ways  in  the  world  for  two  people  to 
get  along  together  is  for  each  of  them  to  have 
his  own  way  always.  So  it  took  us  less  than 
a  minute  to  settle  that  Helen's  mother  should 
just  stay  in  the  train  till  it  got  to  Exeter  and 
wait  there  for  us.  Helen  was  young  enough  to 
feel  an  ambition  to  see  and  do  as  much  as  pos- 
218 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          219 

sible,  instead  of  as  little  as  possible,  and  she 
said  that  she  would  go  to  see  Dozmare  Pool  too. 
And  so  Helen  and  I  got  off  the  train  at  Lis- 
keard  and  stood  on  the  platform  and  saw  it  go 
on  and  watched  it  till  it  was  out  of  sight.  Then 
we  felt  that  we  were  alone  in  a  strange  land, 
for  we  knew  almost  as  little  about  Liskeard  as 
we  did  about  the  moon,  and  how  could  we 
tell  that  we  should  be  able  to  get  to  Dozmare 
Pool  at  all  ?  We  left  the  station  and  began  to 
look  around.  We  did  not  have  to  look  far. 
Just  across  the  road  there  was  a  little  hotel 
called  the  Stag.  We  went  in  and  the  land- 
lord did  not  seem  quite  so  surprised  to  see  us 
as  some  of  the  hotel  keepers  we  had  met  be- 
fore. We  asked  him  if  we  could  have  luncheon 
and  he  said  we  could.  Then  we  asked  him  if 
he  knew  where  Dozmare  Pool  was.  That  made 
him  stare  a  little,  but  he  said  he  did.  Next  we 
asked  him  if  he  could  find  a  carriage  and  a 
driver  to  take  us  there.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  and 
I  suppose  you  will  want  to  go  to  the  Cheese- 
wring  too." 

"  What  is  the  Cheesewring  ?  " 
"  It's  some  very  curious  stones,  sir;  visitors 
almost  always  go  to  see  it,  sir." 
"  Is  it  near  Dozmare  Pool?" 
"  Oh,  it's  a  matter  of  three  miles,  sir." 
"  Shall  we   have  time  to  go  to  both  places 
and  get  back  so  as  to  catch  a  train  for  Exeter?" 


220     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir ;  you'll  have  plenty  of  time,  I 
think." 

"  Very  well,  then,  we  will  go  to  the  Cheese- 
wring." 

That  is  the  way  with  hotel  keepers'  in  such 
places.  They  have  certain  sights  that  they  ex- 
pect everybody  to  go  to  see,  but  they  never  can 
understand  why  you  want  to  see  anything  else. 
And  of  course  it  doesn't  really  matter  whether 
they  understand  or  not.  Still  I  was  willing  to 
take  the  landlord's  advice.  I  had  read  some- 
thing about  the  Cheesewring  before  and  I  was 
glad  to  find  that  we  had  such  a  good  chance  to 
see  it. 

When  we  had  finished  luncheon  the  carriage 
and  the  driver  were  ready,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
Liskeard  was  behind  us.  The  country  was  of 
the  same  pretty  sort  that  we  had  seen  so  many 
times  before,  with  tall  trees,  that  hung  over  the 
road,  and  fields  and  high  hedges.  They  were 
not  wonderful  scenes  that  we  were  riding 
through,  but  just  fresh  and  bright  and  lovely 
scenes. 

There  was  a  place  where,  for  a  short  way,  we 
rode  along  beside  a  little  brook,  and  even  from 
the  carriage,  as  we  passed,  we  could  see  the 
trout  swimming  in  it.  The  driver  told  us  that 
the  boys  of  a  school  near-by  often  caught  the 
trout  by  letting  down  wide-mouthed  bottles, 
with  bait  in  them,  into  the  water.  The  fish 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          221 

would  go  into  the  bottles  and  the  boys  would 
pull  them  up  by  the  strings.  This  was  a  way 
of  catching  trout  that  I  had  never  heard  of, 
but  it  seemed  likely  enough  that  it  might  be 
done,  with  a  stream  so  full  of  them  as  this  one 
was. 

I  tried,  as  usual,  to  get  the  driver  to  tell  us 
stories.  "  What  sort  of  place  is  this  Dozmare 
Pool,  where  we  are  going  ?  "  I  said.  "  I  have 
heard  that  there  are  some  very  wonderful 
stories  about  it." 

"  I  can't  say,  sir,"  he  answered ;  "  I  never 
heard  any  stories  about  it  in  particular." 

This  was  just  the  answer  that  I  expected.  It 
is  not  at  all  easy  to  get  people  to  tell  you  the 
stories  about  the  places  where  they  live,  even 
when  they  know  them.  I  don't  know  why  it 
is.  Perhaps  they  are  afraid  of  being  laughed 
at,  if  the  stories  happen  to  be  a  little  hard  to 
believe,  and  perhaps  they  feel  that  the  stories 
belong  to  them  and  to  their  neighbors,  and  they 
do  not  like  to  give  them  to  strangers. 

But  one  of  the  best  ways  to  get  them  to  tell 
you  a  story  is  to  tell  them  one.  I  thought  that 
this  way  was  worth  trying,  so  I  said  :  "  I  am 
surprised  at  that.  I  thought  everybody  about 
here  must  know  stories  about  Dozmare  Pool. 
Why,  I  was  reading  only  the  other  day  about  a 
giant  named  Tregagle,  who  lived  about  the 
pool  and  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  He  was 


222     The  Knights  of  the  Round  J^able 

once  a  wicked  steward,  I  think,  who  killed  his 
master  and  mistress  and  got  the  property  that 
belonged  to  their  child,  and  for  that  he  was 
condemned  to  empty  Dozmare  Pool  with  a 
limpet  shell.  Of  course  he  never  could  do  it, 
but  he  had  to  keep  working  at  it  forever.  And 
then,  as  if  that  was  not  enough,  the  story  said 
that  sometimes  the  devil  used  to  come  after 
him,  and  the  only  way  that  he  could  get  away 
from  the  devil  was  to  run  fifteen  miles  to  the 
Roche  Rocks  and  put  his  head  in  at  the  window 
of  a  chapel  there,  and  then  the  devil  could  not 
harm  him.  And  when  the  devil  got  tired  of 
waiting  and  went  away,  poor  old  Tregagle  had 
to  come  back  and  go  to  work  again  at  empty- 
ing the  pool  with  his  limpet  shell." 

"  I  never  heard  of  Tregagle,"  said  the  driver, 
"  but  the  way  I  heard  the  story  was  that  it  was 
the  devil  himself  who  had  to  empty  the  pool 
with  a  limpet  shell,  and  he  did  it.  Then  he  was 
condemned  to  bind  the  sand  and  mike  the  binds 
of  the  sime,  and  that  he  couldn't  do." 

So  the  driver  did  know  a  story  after  all.  I 
must  tell  you  just  here  that  this  driver  had  a  very 
queer  way  of  speaking,  as  it  seemed  to  us.  I 
am  not  quite  sure  whether  it  was  a  Cornish  way 
or  not.  It  was  harder  to  understand  than  any 
other  speech  that  we  had  heard  in  Cornwall. 
Liskeard  is  almost  on  the  edge  of  Devonshire 
and  this  man's  talk,  too,  had  something  that 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          223 

sounded  like  London  in  it.  I  try  to  tell  you  the 
things  that  he  said  in  every-day  English,  and 
not  just  the  way  he  said  them.  But  I  have 
tried,  too,  to  give  you  a  few  words  just  as  they 
sounded,  to  show  you  what  they  were  like. 
But  I  feel  that  I  have  not  quite  done  it.  When 
the  driver  told  us  that  the  devil  was  condemned 
to  "  bind  the  sand  and  mike  the  binds  of  the 
sirne,"  Helen  and  I  stared  at  each  other  and 
could  not  make  out  what  he  meant  at  first.  But 
we  soon  thought  it  out.  The  words  that  he  had 
tried  to  say  were  "  bind  the  sand  and  make  the 
binds  of  the  same,"  and  what  he  meant  was,  that 
the  devil  was  to  make  the  sand  into  bundles 
and  make  ropes  out  of  the  sand  to  bind  them 
around.  Making  ropes  out  of  sand  has  always 
been  counted  a  hard  thing  to  do,  and  it  is  really 
no  wonder  that  the  devil  could  not  do  it. 

After  he  had  told  us  this  one  story  the  driver 
was  much  better  company,  and  I  think  he  tried 
to  tell  us  all  that  he  could  about  all  that  we 
saw.  "  The  well  of  St.  Keyne  is  not  far  from 
here,"  he  said.  "  Perhaps  you  may  have  heard 
of  it,  sir.  They  tell  the  story  about  it  that 
when  a  man  and  a  woman  are  married,  the  one 
of  them  that  drinks  from  the  well  of  St.  Keyne 
first  will  always  be  the  ruler  of  the  house.  And 
the  story  tells  how  there  was  a  man  who  was 
married,  and  he  wanted  to  be  sure  to  drink 
first.  So  as  soon  as  the  marriage  was  over  he 


224     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

left  his  wife  in  the  church  and  ran  and  drank 
from  the  well.  But  his  wife  was  before  him 
after  all,  for  she  had  brought  a  bottle  of  the 
water  to  church  with  her.  There  was  a  piece 
of  poetry  made  about  it.  I  don't  remember 
who  did  it." 

"  Southey  ?  "  I  suggested. 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  I  think  so,  sir." 

The  driver  showed  us  two  curious  stones  in 
a  field  that  we  passed  and  waited  while  we 
went  to  look  at  them  more  closely.  They 
stood  on  end  and  were  rather  higher  than  a 
man's  head,  as  I  remember.  They  were  square 
at  the  bottom,  but  smaller  at  the  top,  and  one 
of  them  had  somewhat  the  form  of  a  chair. 
There  was  some  rough  carving  on  the  sides. 
The  driver  said  that  he  had  heard  that  some 
old  King  of  Cornwall  was  buried  there.  Since 
then  I  have  read  more  about  these  stones  in  a 
very  old  book  about  Cornwall.  The  writer 
does  not  seem  to  know  much  more  than  we  as 
to  how  they  came  there,  but  he  says  that  they 
are  called  "the  Other  Half  Stone."  I  think 
that  you  will  say  that  that  is  as  curious  a  name 
as  you  ever  heard.  The  old  writer  seems  to 
think  so  too,  and  he  does  not  know  anything 
about  the  one  half  stone  of  which  these  are 
"the  other  half."  But  he  says  that  they  are 
just  half  way  between  Exeter  and  the  Land's 
End. 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          225 

The  driver  decided  that  he  would  take  us  to 
the  Cheesewring  before  Dozmare  Pool,  and  by 
and  by  he  said  that  we  were  as  near  to  it  as  we 
could  go  with  the  carriage.  He  pointed  it  out 
to  us,  on  a  hill,  a  long  way  off,  as  it  seemed. 
Then  he  drove  along  to  a  poor  little  village, 
where  we  left  the  horse  and  carriage  at  a  house 
that  called  itself  an  hotel,  and  from  there  we 
walked  to  the  Cheesewring.  The  way  was 
across  a  broad  stretch  of  rough  ground  and  it 
was  not  at  all  easy  walking.  We  had  not  gone 
far  before  the  driver  had  some  more  stones  to 
show  us.  They  were  not  very  large,  but  there 
were  a  good  many  of  them,  and  they  stood  on 
end,  as  usual.  They  had  stood  in  two  great  cir- 
cles once,  as  if  they  were  little  stones  trying  to 
look  like  Stonehenge,  but  now  some  of  them 
had  fallen  down,  and  of  course  that  was  a  part 
of  their  game  of  Stonehenge  too. 

"  They  call  these  the  Hurlers,"  said  the 
driver,  "  and  they  tell  the  story  that  they  were 
men,  who  were  turned  into  stone  for  playing 
quoits  on  Sunday."  (He  pronounced  it "  kites.") 
Then  he  pointed  to  two  stones  that  stood  by 
themselves,  a  little  way  from  the  circles,  and 
said  :  "  I  suppose  those  two  were  men  who  were 
only  looking  on,  and  not  playing." 

We  resolved  that  we  would  never  play  quoits 
on  Sunday,  or  so  much  as  look  at  anybody  play- 
ing quoits  on  Sunday,  and  then  we  went  on 
15 


226     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

toward  the  Cheesewring.  We  had  to  climb 
a  little  way  up  the  hillside  to  get  to  it,  and 
then  we  stood  almost  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice, 
looking  down  into  a  great  quarry,  where 
there  were  men  at  work  cutting  out  stone.  The 
Cheesewring  itself  was  almost  on  the  edge  of 
the  precipice  too.  It  was  a  great  pile  of  stones 
— a  great  pile,  but  few  stones,  for  they  were 
huge  ones.  They  were  skilfully  fitted  and  bal- 
anced, one  upon  the  other,  and  the  top  one  was 
much  the  largest  of  them  all,  so  that  the  whole 
pile  had  somewhat  the  shape  of  a  rude  anvil. 
The  whole  pile  was  perhaps  four  times  as  high 
as  our  heads.  I  think  I  have  forgotten  to  say 
till  now  that  "  Cheesewring  "  means  "  cheese- 
press,"  and  surely  a  very  large  and  very  stiff 
cheese  might  be  well  flattened  out  by  having 
that  pile  of  stones  set  upon  it. 

The  puzzle  of  it,  as  usual,  is  how  the  stones 
got  there.  The  machinery  that  they  are  using 
down  below  there  in  the  quarry  to-day  would 
be  none  too  good  to  move  such  stones  as  these. 
Yet  there  they  are,  and  there  is  no  history  of 
the  time  when  they  were  put  there.  "  What 
do  you  think  of  them,"  I  said,  "and  whoever 
do  you  suppose  knew  how  to  pile  them  up 
there  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  Helen  answered,  "  but  when 
there  are  any  big  stones  anywhere  you  gener- 
ally say  that  Merlin  put  them  there." 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones         227 

"  Well,  I  am  not  going  to  say  so  this  time, 
though  these  stones  do  somehow  remind  me  of 
Merlin.  Did  I  ever  tell  you  what  became  of 
him  at  last?" 

"  No,"  said  Helen,  "  of  course  you  didn't." 

"  Why,  here  we  are,"  I  said,  "  telling  stories 
about  the  very  end  of  King  Arthur's  reign,  and 
nobody  had  seen  or  heard  anything  of  Merlin 
since  almost  the  very  beginning  of  it.  And  do 
you  mean  to  tell  me  that  I  have  never  told  you 
what  became  of  him  ?  " 

"  Why,  you  know  you  never  did  ;  what  was 
it?" 

"  Well,  to  be  sure,  if  I  have  never  told  you 
that,  we  ought  not  to  lose  another  minute  about 
it.  But  you  must  forget  everything  that  you 
have  heard  lately  and  go  away  back,  for  that  is 
where  this  story  begins.  After  Merlin  had 
taken  good  care  of  King  Vortigern  and  of  King 
Pendragon,  King  Arthur's  uncle;  and  King 
Uther  Pendragon,  Arthur's  father ;  and  of  King 
Arthur  himself ;  after  he  had  set  him  on  his 
throne  and  had  helped  him  to  win  battles  and 
to  get  his  sword  Excalibur,  what  do  you  think 
Merlin  did  ?  You  would  think  that  he  was  old 
enough  to  know  better,  only  I  believe  nobody 
is  ever  old  enough  to  know  better.  He  fell  in 
love. 

"  Merlin  knew  everything,  and  so  he  knew 
that  he  was  going  to  fall  in  love.  He  knew, 


228     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

too,  that  because  of  his  falling  in  love  he  should 
go  away  from  the  court  and  away  from  the 
King  and  away  from  all  the  world,  and  that  af- 
ter that  he  should  never  be  of  any  use  again  to 
the  King  or  to  England  or  to  the  world.  Mer- 
lin knew,  and  yet  he  could  not  help  it.  Merlin 
could  rule  kingdoms  and  set  up  and  cast  down 
kings,  yet  there  was  one  power  in  the  world 
that  he  could  not  rule  and  could  not  resist.  He 
could  not  save  himself  from  the  end  that  he 
knew  was  coming.  He  told  King  Arthur  that 
he  should  leave  him  soon  and  should  never  see 
him  again,  and  King  Arthur  tried  to  reason 
with  him  and  to  make  him  use  his  magic 
against  his  fate.  But  Merlin  said  that  no 
magic  could  do  any  good ;  in  this  one  thing  he 
was  helpless;  when  the  time  came  he  must  go, 
and  the  time  was  coming  soon. 

"  And  who  was  it,  do  you  suppose,  that  Mer- 
lin was  in  love  with  ?  It  was  Nimue,  the  Lady 
of  the  Lake,  Lancelot's  Fairy  Mother.  He  met 
her  in  a  forest  over  in  France,  where  she  had 
her  home.  He  taught  her  magic  and  he  made 
a  splendid  palace  by  magic  and  filled  it  with 
knights  and  ladies  for  her,  and  there  they  had 
feasts  and  dances  and  games.  One  day  she 
asked  him  to  show  her  how  she  could  put  to 
sleep  any  one  whom  she  chose,  so  that  he  could 
not  awake  till  she  should  let  him  awake.  And 
Merlin  knew  that  it  was  himself  whom  she 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          229 

wished  to  put  to  sleep  so,  yet  he  knew  that  it  was 
fate  that  he  should  tell  her,  and  so  he  told  her. 

"They  used  to  meet  in  the  forest  near  a 
spring  that  was  famous  afterward,  for  the 
water  of  the  spring  used  to  bubble  up  when 
anything  of  iron  or  copper  or  brass  was  thrown 
into  it,  and  the  children  who  knew  the  spring 
threw  pins  into  it  and  said  :  '  Laugh,  spring, 
and  I  will  give  you  a  pin,'  and  then  the  spring 
would  laugh  for  them.  Merlin  sat  often  beside 
the  spring  with  Nimue  and  taught  her  magic. 
He  taught  her  so  much  that  at  last  there  was 
nobody  in  the  world  who  knew  so  much  of  it 
as  she,  except  himself  and  perhaps  King  Ar- 
thur's sister,  Queen  Morgan-le-Fay. 

"  Then  another  time  Nimue  begged  Merlin  to 
teach  her  how  one  man  or  woman  could  be 
shut  up  by  another,  so  that  he  never  could  get 
away  again,  so  that  no  one  could  ever  come  to 
him  but  the  one  who  had  worked  the  spell,  so 
that  he  could  never  see  any  but  that  one,  and 
no  one  could  break  the  spell  but  the  one  who 
made  it.  Then  Merlin  was  sad  again,  for  he 
knew  that  Nimue  loved  him  so  much  that  she 
wanted  to  keep  him  all  to  herself  and  never  to 
let  any  one  else  see  him  or  hear  of  him.  And 
he  knew,  too,  that  she  must  have  her  way  in 
this.  '  I  know,'  he  said,  '  what  it  is  that  you 
wish,  and  I  love  you  so  much  that  I  know  that 
I  must  do  what  you  ask.' 


230     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  '  If  you  know  what  it  is  that  I  wish,'  she 
said,  '  you  know  that  I  want  a  place  where  we 
can  be  together  always,  only  we  two,  where 
nobody  else  can  ever  come  to  us  and  where  I 
shall  never  see  any  one  but  you  and  you  will 
never  see  anyone  but  me.  Surely,  when  I  love 
you  so  much  as  you  know  I  do,  you  should  love 
me  enough  for  that.' 

"  And  still  Merlin  was  sad,  knowing  that  this 
was  to  be  the  end  of  all  his  work  for  the  King 
and  for  the  world,  but  he  answered  :  '  I  will  do 
what  you  ask.  I  will  make  a  place  where  we 
two  can  be  and  no  one  else  can  ever  come  to 
us  or  see  us  or  know  of  us.' 

"  But  Nimue  said :  '  I  do  not  wish  it  so ;  you 
must  teach  me  the  magic,  so  that  I  can  do  it 
myself.  Then  I  will  make  the  enchantment 
when  I  please.' 

"  So  Merlin,  knowing  that  it  was  fate  and 
that  there  was  no  other  way,  taught  her  all  the 
charms  by  which  she  could  do  what  she  wished. 
He  taught  her  how  to  walk  about  in  circles  and 
how  to  wave  her  hands  and  what  words  to  say. 
And  she  learned  it  and  remembered  it  all. 
Then  they  left  France  and  came  over  into 
Cornwall  and  wandered  together  about  the 
hills  and  the  woods.  And  one  day,  when  they 
had  gone  a  long  way,  they  sat  down  to  rest. 
And  Nimue  took  Merlin's  head  in  her  lap  and 
put  him  to  sleep  with  the  charm  that  he  had 


Stories  of  Strange  Stones          231 

taught  her.  When  he  was  asleep  she  rose  and 
walked  around  him  nine  times  and  waved  her 
hands  and  began  to  say  the  words  that  he  had 
taught  her.  And  as  she  worked  the  charm 
Merlin  slept  more  soundly,  and  then  the  ground 
opened  and  he  sank  down  into  it.  She  sank 
down  too,  and  when  they  were  deep  enough 
the  ground  closed  above  them.  But  still  she 
went  on  with  the  charm  and  great  stones  were 
moved  by  the  magic  words  and  piled  themselves 
high  above  the  place  where  they  had  sunk. 

"  When  Merlin  awoke  he  knew  that  the  spell 
was  done.  He  was  in  a  beautiful  place  and 
Nimue  was  with  him.  She  could  go  out  and 
come  in  when  she  chose,  and  she  often  did  so, 
but  he  could  never  go  out  till  the  spell  was 
broken.  And  nobody  could  ever  break  the 
spell  but  Nimue,  who  had  made  it.  Merlin 
himself,  with  all  his  magic,  could  not  break  it, 
for  it  was  one  of  his  own  spells  and  the  strong- 
est of  them,  and  it  was  planned  so  that  it  could 
never  be  undone  by  anyone,  even  the  greatest 
magician  of  the  world,  except  the  one  who  had 
done  it.  And  Nimue  never  undid  the  spell. 

"  Now  I  am  not  sure  where  all  this  hap- 
pened, and  you  know  I  would  not  tell  you  any- 
thing that  I  was  not  sure  of.  Some  say  that  it 
was  here  in  Cornwall  and  some  say  that  it  was 
over  in  France,  and  that  Merlin  and  Nimue  did 
not  come  back  to  England  at  all.  Some  say, 


232     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

too,  that  there  was  another  Cornwall  in  France. 
But  if  they  did  come  to  England  again,  and  if 
the  place  was  in  this  very  Cornwall,  then  why 
might  not  this  be  the  very  place  where  we  are? 
Here  is  this  great  pile  of  stones  and  neither  we 
nor  anybody  else  can  tell  how  they  came  here 
or  how  they  could  come  here.  Why  might 
they  not  be  the  very  ones  that  Nimue  piled  up 
over  Merlin  by  the  enchantment  that  he  taught 
her?  I  don't  say  that  they  are,  but  I  do  say 
that  I  cannot  see  why  they  might  not  be,  so  let 
us  believe  that  they  are." 

Helen  looked  over  the  edge  of  the  hill,  down 
into  the  quarry.  "  If  those  men  down  there  dig 
out  the  rock  a  little  more  over  this  way,"  she  said, 
"they  will  let  Merlin  out,  if  he  is  still  there." 

"  They  will  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  I  an- 
swered;  "do  you  think  that  Merlin's  charms 
were  worth  no  more  than  that?  No  one  can 
ever  let  Merlin  out  of  his  prison  but  Nimue, 
and  she  never  did  and  never  will.  If  those  men 
down  there  should  dig  to  where  Merlin  was, 
you  may  be  sure  that  he  would  sink  again, 
down  and  down  through  the  earth,  so  that  no 
quarriers  in  the  world  could  ever  reach  him. 
Merlin's  charms  were  charms  that  were  made  to 
last,  and  Merlin  will  never  be  seen  again  on 
the  earth  as  long  as  Stonehenge  is  on  Salisbury 
Plain." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

"AND    ON    THE     MERE     THE     WAILING     DIED 
AWAY  " 

IT  was  only  a  short  drive  from  the  place 
where  we  had  left  the  carriage  to  Dozmare 
Pool.  That  is,  it  was  a  short  drive  to  the  near- 
est place  to  it  where  we  could  get  with  the 
carriage.  The  carriage  could  not  go  close  to 
it,  any  more  than  it  could  to  the  Cheesewring. 
The  driver  began  to  remember  still  more  about 
Dozmare  Pool,  as  we  got  nearer  to  it.  The 
water  was  salt,  like  the  sea,  he  had  heard,  and 
in  stormy  times  it  had  great  waves  like  the 
sea. 

This  reminded  me  of  some  things  that  I  had 
heard  and  read  about  it  myself.  The  name 
"  Dozmare,"  I  had  been  told  somewhere,  meant 
"drop  of  the  sea."  I  had  been  told  somewhere 
else  that  the  name  was  made  up  of  two  Cornish 
words  that  meant  "  come  "  and  "  great,"  and  that 
the  name  was  given  to  it  because  it  had  tides, 
233 


234     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

like  the  ocean.  Long  ago  it  had  no  outlet  that 
anybody  could  see,  but  it  was  said  that  some- 
thing that  was  thrown  onto  it  was  found  many 
miles  off,  on  the  seashore.  So  it  was  believed 
that  a  passage  under  ground  led  from  it  to  the 
sea.  It  was  said,  too,  that  it  was  so  deep  that 
no  plummet  had  ever  reached  its  bottom. 

We  came  at  last  to  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill  and 
the  driver  said  that  we  could  not  go  any  farther 
with  the  carriage.  He  would  stay  here  and  at- 
tend to  the  horse,  and  we  must  go  straight  up 
this  hill  and  we  should  find  Dozmare  Pool.  Up 
the  hill  we  went,  a  good,  long  climb,  and  when 
we  got  to  the  top,  though  we  knew  what  we 
had  come  to  see,  we  were  surprised  to  see  it. 
For  all  of  a  sudden  there  it  was  before  us,  the 
broad  lake  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  just  where  we 
should  expect  to  find  the  downward  slope  of 
the  other  side  of  the  hill.  It  did  not  look  like 
a  stormy  sea  to-day,  but  a  fresh  breeze  was 
blowing  over  it  and  drove  the  little  waves  be- 
fore it  against  the  bank,  where  they  made  a 
plashing  noise  at  our  feet.  The  pool  seemed 
to  be  at  the  very  top  of  everything,  except  that 
far  away  across  it  we  could  see  a  mountain, 
with  two  peaks. 

There  was  one  little  house  near  us  and  no 
other  in  sight.  Near  the  house  a  man  was  at 
work  piling  up  turf,  cut  in  long,  square  strips, 
for  winter  fires.  A  little  boy  was  playing 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       235 

about,  or  trying  to  help  the  man,  and  a  woman 
was  driving  a  cart  that  brought  the  turf  from 
somewhere  down  below.  We  asked  the  man 
what  mountain  that  was  with  the  two  peaks. 

"  Brown  Gilly,  sir,"  he  said. 

"Is  the  water  of  this  lake  salt?"  we  asked 
again. 

"  No,  sir,  it's  fresh." 

"  Is  it  good  to  drink  ?  " 

"  We  don't  drink  it  ourselves,  sir,  but  it's 
good  for  washing  and  the  cattle  drink  it." 

"  How  big  is  the  lake  ?  " 

"  It's  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  round,  sir." 

44  And  is  there  any  outlet  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  down  at  the  other  end  there's 
one." 

"  It  was  not  always  there,  was  it?  When 
was  it  made  ?  " 

"  I  couldn't  say,  sir ;  it  was  there  before  my 
time." 

We  left  the  man  to  pile  his  turf  and  wonder 
what  strange  sort  of  people  we  could  be  who 
wanted  to  know  so  many  useless  things.  "  Well, 
there  is  so  much  of  our  story  spoiled,"  I  said. 
"  It  is  not  salt  and  it  probably  does  not  have 
waves  like  the  ocean,  and  an  outlet  has  been 
made  for  it.  Still,  as  you  stand  and  look  over 
it,  do  you  not  feel  that  there  is  something 
lonely  and  solemn  and  mysterious  and  magical 
about  it  ?  When  you  think  of  its  being  here  at 


236     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

the  top  of  a  hill,  instead  of  down  in  a  valley, 
like  a  common  lake,  and  when  you  see  no 
higher  hill  around  it,  except  that  one  mountain 
over  there,  and  when  you  think  of  the  stories 
about  it,  do  you  not  get  a  little  of  what  our  old 
friend  of  the  Alice  books  calls  the  '  eerie '  feel- 
ing ?  Have  you  guessed  that  the  reason  why 
I  brought  you  here  was  that  this  was  the  lake 
where  King  Arthur  found  his  sword  Excalibur  ? 
Well,  it  was.  And  now  I  have  another  story 
to  tell  you  about  it.  It  is  rather  a  sad  story. 
The  most  of  our  stories  are  getting  to  be  rather 
sad  now,  but  there  are  not  many  more  of 
them." 

I  had  told  Helen  long  before  how  King  Ar- 
thur got  his  sword  Excalibur.  His  sword  had 
been  broken  in  a  fight  one  day,  and  Merlin  led 
him  to  the  shore  of  a  little  lake — this  very  lake 
where  we  stood  now — and  out  in  the  middle  of 
it  he  had  seen  an  arm  rising  out  of  the  water. 
The  arm  was  covered  with  white  silk  and  the 
hand  held  a  sword,  the  most  beautiful  that  Ar- 
thur had  ever  seen.  Merlin  and  Arthur  went 
out  to  it  in  a  boat  and  the  King  took  the  sword 
and  kept  it.  That  was  the  wonderful  sword 
Excalibur.  Merlin  told  Arthur  strange  things 
about  the  sword.  No  one  else  ever  knew  what 
they  were,  and  it  may  be  that  we  do  not  know, 
even  yet,  of  all  the  wonders  of  that  sword. 

But  now  for  the  storv.     "  You  know,"  I  said, 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       237 

"  that  I  do  not  often  throw  morals  at  you  in 
these  stories.  As  a  general  thing,  I  hate  to  see 
morals  hung  up  on  the  ends  of  stories  as  much 
as  you  do.  If  the  moral  cannot  make  itself  felt 
as  the  story  goes  along,  it  isn't  of  much  use, 
usually,  to  drag  it  out  and  hold  it  up  at  the 
end.  But  this  story  has  such  a  good  and  sound 
and  useful  moral  that  I  can't  help  pointing  it 
out  to  you.  But  1  will  put  it  here  at  the  be- 
ginning, instead  of  at  the  end,  and  have  it  over 
with.  It  is  that  when  a  lie  has  been  told  about 
anybody,  no  matter  how  wicked  and  silly  it  is, 
no  matter  how  clearly  it  may  have  been  proved 
to  be  a  lie,  it  will  always  stick  to  him,  it  will 
never  be  forgotten,  and  there  will  always  be 
people  who  will  half  believe  it. 

"  You  remember  how  once  Meliagraunce 
charged  Queen  Guinevere  with  treason  against 
King  Arthur.  Everybody  knew  that  Melia- 
graunce himself  was  a  traitor  and  a  liar  and 
that  he  got  killed  for  telling  that  one  lie.  Still 
it  never  was  forgotten  and  there  were  some 
who  never  had  quite  the  trust  in  the  Queen 
again  that  they  had  had  before.  And  since  it 
was  Lancelot  who  had  fought  for  the  Queen, 
then  and  at  other  times,  they  looked  at  him  just 
as  they  did  at  her,  and  shook  their  heads  and 
whispered  to  one  another  that  they  wondered 
if  Lancelot  was  quite  as  true  to  the  King  as  he 
ought  to  be.  There  were  some  who  said,  too, 


238     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

that  Lancelot  and  the  Queen  both  cared  too 
much  about  honors  and  glory  for  themselves 
and  not  enough  about  the  honor  of  the  King. 
And  I  am  afraid  that  was  not  a  lie. 

"  Still  all  this  thinking  and  talking  counted 
for  little  for  a  long  time.  And  then  there  came 
a  time  when  they  counted  for  much.  It  was 
after  the  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Lancelot  had 
come  back  to  the  court  and  Bors  had  come 
back  from  the  City  of  Sarras,  and  all  had  come 
back  who  were  ever  coming.  Then,  all  at  once, 
as  it  has  always  seemed  to  me,  without  any 
reason,  half  the  people  in  King  Arthur's  court 
went  mad.  The  first  and  the  worst  of  them 
was  Mordred,  King  Arthur's  nephew,  Gawain's 
brother.  He  was  always  all  but  mad  with 
jealousy  and  envy  and  hatred  of  all  who  were 
greater  than  himself.  And  now  he  thought 
that  nothing  less  could  please  him  than  to  over- 
throw King  Arthur  and  to  be  King  of  England. 

"  There  are  some  people  who  cannot  think  of 
any  better  way  of  helping  themselves  than  by 
doing  all  the  harm  that  they  can  to  those  who 
stand  in  their  way.  Mordred  was  of  this  sort. 
He  looked  about  him  to  see  who  there  was 
whom  he  could  harm,  and  he  thought  of  this 
old  lie  about  the  Queen  and  of  these  new  doubts 
about  Lancelot.  Then  he  went  to  the  King 
and  told  him  that  he  had  found  that  Lancelot 
and  the  Queen  were  plotting  treason  together 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       239 

and  forming  some  plan  against  the  King.  If 
the  King  wanted  proof  of  it,  Mordred  said,  let 
him  go  hunting  the  next  day,  and  while  he  was 
gone,  Mordred  and  some  others  would  find 
Lancelot  and  the  Queen  together. 

"  Now  Lancelot  and  the  Queen  had  always 
been  the  best  of  friends  and  what  in  the  world 
was  supposed  to  be  proved  by  their  being  seen 
together  I  am  sure  I  don't  know.  But  just  at 
this  time  it  seems  to  me  that  it  was  the  King 
who  went  mad,  and  he  said  that  he  would  do 
as  Mordred  advised  him. 

"  The  next  day  the  King  went  hunting.  Now 
Bors  and  some  of  Lancelot's  other  friends  had 
heard  these  whispers  about  the  court  and  they 
had  told  Lancelot  of  them.  They  had  decided 
that  it  might  stop  the  chatter,  about  Lancelot 
at  least,  if  he  were  to  leave  the  court  for  a  time. 
It  happened  that  Lancelot  had  meant  to  go 
this  very  day,  and  so  he  went  to  say  good-by 
to  the  Queen.  Bors  knew  what  a  mischief- 
maker  Mordred  was  ;  he  had  seen  that  he  did 
not  go  to  the  hunt  with  the  King,  and  he  feared 
that  something  was  wrong.  He  begged  Lance- 
lot not  to  go  to  see  the  Queen,  but  Lancelot 
laughed  at  the  notion  that  there  was  anything  to 
fear  and  went.  And  Mordred  and  some  other 
knights  whom  he  had  got  on  his  side  were 
watching,  and  the  minute  that  Lancelot  and  the 
Queen  were  together  they  were  upon  them. 


240     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  Lancelot  had  come  only  to  see  the  Queen 
and  to  bid  her  good-by  ;  he  had  not  expected  any 
fighting,  and  so  he  wore  no  armor.  Mordred 
and  his  knights  meant  to  fall  upon  Lancelot  all 
at  once  and  kill  him  or  take  him  prisoner.  But 
Lancelot  was  quick  enough  to  shut  the  door  of 
the  room  and  keep  them  out  for  a  few  minutes. 
Then  he  drew  his  sword  and  opened  the  door 
just  enough  to  let  one  of  the  knights  come  in. 
He  struck  that  one  with  his  sword  and  wounded 
him  so  that  he  fell  inside  the  room,  and  then 
he  shut  the  door  again.  Lancelot  quickly  took 
off  the  armor  of  the  wounded  knight  and 
dressed  himself  in  it.  Then  he  threw  the  door 
wide  open  and  rushed  at  the  crowd  of  knights 
striking  about  him  as  he  went  and  wounding 
more  of  them. 

"  Many  as  they  were  they  could  not  stand 
against  Lancelot  and  he  escaped  from  them 
and  went  back  to  his  friends.  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  say  just  here  that  there  was  scarcely 
ever  a  man  in  the  world  who  had  such  friends 
as  Lancelot.  There  were  his  brother  Ector,  his 
cousins  Bors  and  Lionel,  Lavaine,  and  many 
others  who  were  ready  to  give  their  very  lives 
for  Lancelot  at  any  time.  And  now,  after  this 
terrible  thing  had  happened,  they  all  left  the 
city  with  him,  as  quickly  as  they  could,  and 
then  they  waited  near  to  see  what  would  be 
done  with  the  Queen. 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       241 

"  When  the  King  came  back  Mordred  told 
him  about  what  had  happened,  in  his  own  lying 
way,  I  suppose.  And  the  King,  it  seems,  had 
not  got  over  his  fit  of  madness  yet,  for  surely 
nobody  in  his  senses  could  think  that  what 
Mordred  had  to  tell  proved  anything.  But  of 
course  we  don't  know  just  how  much  Mordred 
lied,  and  I  wonder  if  the  King  believed  him 
just  because  he  was  his  own  nephew.  Such 
things  happen  sometimes,  though  for  my  own 
part  I  don't  see  why  any  man  should  be  be- 
lieved because  he  is  another  man's  nephew. 
Bad  men  have  uncles,  as  well  as  good  men. 
But  it  seems  that  the  King  did  believe  him,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  and  did  believe  that  the 
Queen  and  Lancelot  were  guilty  of  treason. 
And  he  said  that  the  Queen  should  have  the 
punishment  of  treason,  and  so  should  Lancelot, 
if  he  could  get  him.  Now  the  punishment  of 
treason  in  those  days  was  burning. 

"  Now,  mad  as  the  King  seems  to  have  been, 
I  no  more  believe  that  he  would  have  the 
Queen  burnt  than  I  believe  that  he  would  have 
himself  burnt.  I  don't  know  why  he  pretended 
that  he  would.  Perhaps  he  thought  that  he 
could  make  her  confess  something,  or  perhaps 
he  thought  that  Mordred,  when  he  saw  how 
far  things  were  going,  would  confess  that  he 
was  wrong.  But  the  King  declared  that  the 
punishment  of  the  Queen  should  be  the  next 

16 


242     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

morning  and  he  ordered  some  of  his  knights, 
and  among  them  Gareth  and  his  brother  Ga- 
heris,  to  be  present  and  see  it  done.  They  and 
some  of  the  others  told  the  King  plainly  that 
they  thought  that  what  he  was  doing  was 
wrong  and  that  they  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  Since  he  commanded  them  to  be  pres- 
ent, they  said,  they  would  be  there  only  to  look 
on,  and  they  would  wear  no  armor. 

"  And  now  it  came  Lancelot's  turn  to  go  mad. 
For  he  believed  that  the  King  would  really  do 
all  that  he  said.  So  he  resolved  that  he  would 
save  the  Queen.  The  King  himself  would  have 
saved  her,  I  am  sure,  before  any  harm  could 
come  to  her.  But  Lancelot  heard  what  was  to 
be  done  and  in  the  morning  he  took  some  of 
his  friends,  all  fully  armed,  and  they  rode  to 
the  place  where  the  Queen  was  led  out  for  her 
punishment.  Lancelot  and  his  men  dashed 
through  the  crowd  of  King  Arthur's  knights, 
the  most  of  whom  wore  no  armor,  laying  about 
them  with  their  swords,  killing  some  and 
wounding  others,  and  came  to  where  the  Queen 
stood.  Lancelot  lifted  her  and  put  her  on  his 
horse  behind  him,  and  he  and  his  knights  rode 
away  again.  They  did  not  stop  near  the  city 
this  time,  but  they  rode  straight  to  a  castle  of 
Lancelot's  own,  called  Joyous  Gard,  and  there 
they  all  shut  themselves  in  and  fortified  the 
town. 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       243 

"  But  in  the  saving  of  the  Queen  another  ter- 
rible thing-  had  happened.  As  Lancelot  dashed 
through  the  crowd  of  King  Arthur's  knights  to 
come  where  she  was,  some  of  them  struck  at 
him,  and  in  return  he  layed  about  him  with  his 
sword  and  could  not  see  who  was  in  his  way, 
and  so,  not  knowing  who  they  were,  he  struck 
Sir  Gareth  and  Sir  Gaheris,  who  wore  no  ar- 
mor, and  killed  them  both.  And  now  it  was 
Gawain  who  went  mad.  When  he  heard  that 
Lancelot  had  killed  his  brothers  he  would  not 
believe  that  it  was  by  accident  and  he  swore 
that  he  would  always  follow  Lancelot  and  try 
to  find  chances  to  fight  with  him,  till  one  of 
them  should  kill  the  other.  He  urged  the  King 
to  make  war  at  once  upon  Lancelot,  and  the 
King  and  his  army  marched  to  Joyous  Gard 
and  besieged  the  castle  and  the  town. 

"  Lancelot  had  many  friends,  as  I  said  before, 
and  many  of  the  lords  and  knights  of  the  coun- 
try, when  they  heard  what  had  happened, 
thought  that  Lancelot  was  right  and  came  to 
help  him.  By  the  time  that  the  King  and  his 
army  came  to  Joyous  Gard  Lancelot  had  a 
good  army  of  his  own  there.  But  Lancelot  did 
not  want  to  fight  the  King,  and  for  many  days 
he  kept  all  his  men  inside  the  town.  He  sent 
messages  to  the  King  and  to  Gawain.  He  told 
the  King  that  neither  he  nor  the  Queen  had 
ever  thought  of  doing  him  any  wrong,  and 


244     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

he  begged  him  to  let  the  Queen  come  back  to 
him  and  to  leave  off  this  war.  He  told  Gawain 
that  he  had  loved  his  brother  Gareth  as  if  he 
had  been  his  own  brother  and  that  he  would  as 
soon  have  killed  his  own  brother  as  Gareth  or 
Gaheris,  if  he  had  known  who  they  were.  And 
the  King  was  so  sad  at  all  that  had  been  done 
that  he  wanted  to  give  up  the  whole  war,  but 
Gawain  would  not  hear  of  it.  He  would  never 
forgive  Lancelot  for  killing  his  brothers,  he 
said,  till  one  of  them  should  kill  the  other. 

"  Then  Lancelot's  friends  urged  him  to  fight. 
Gawain  would  never  let  the  King  give  up  the 
war,  they  said,  and  it  would  be  best  to  end  it 
now.  And  Lancelot  felt  that  they  were  right, 
and  at  last  he  yielded  and  said  that  he  would 
go  out  to  battle  the  next  morning.  In  the 
morning  Lancelot's  army  marched  out  of  the 
city  and  the  army  of  the  King  came  to  meet  it. 
Lancelot  had  ordered  all  his  men  that  whatever 
they  did  they  should  do  no  harm  to  the  King 
or  to  Gawain.  As  for  himself,  he  scarcely 
fought  at  all.  He  rode  about  the  field  and  saw 
others  fight.  He  saw  many  of  his  own  men 
wounded  and  killed,  but  he  had  no  heart  to 
strike  a  blow  against  King  Arthur  or  any 
knight  of  his.  At  last  he  saw  the  King  himself 
charging  against  his  cousin  Bors.  Bors  met 
the  charge  with  his  spear  and  threw  King  Ar- 
thur from  his  horse.  When  Lancelot  saw  that 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       245 

he  rode  to  where  the  King  was  and  got  off  his 
horse.  '  Here,  my  lord,'  he  said,  '  take  this 
horse ;  you  and  your  knights  fight  against  me 
and  have  no  mercy,  but  I  cannot  fight  against 
my  King  or  see  him  overthrown  and  not  try 
to  help  him.' 

*'  And  the  King  took  Lancelot's  horse  and 
rode  away  from  the  field  and  called  all  his  men 
away  too,  and  Lancelot's  men  went  back  to  the 
town. 

"  The  next  day  Lancelot  sent  messengers  to 
King  Arthur  again  to  ask  him  to  let  the  Queen 
come  back,  to  promise  that  she  should  not  be 
harmed,  and  to  end  the  war.  And  the  King 
would  have  done  everything  that  Lancelot 
asked,  but  again  Gawain  would  not  hear  of  it. 
'  Let  the  Queen  come  back  if  you  like,'  said 
Gawain  ;  '  that  is  nothing  to  me.  But  I  will 
not  forgive  Lancelot  for  killing  my  brothers 
and  I  will  always  follow  him  and  fight  with  him 
till  I  kill  him  or  he  kills  me.' 

"  You  know  I  told  you  long  ago  of  the  old 
story  that  Gawain  could  speak  so  well  that  no- 
body could  ever  refuse  him  anything  that  he 
asked.  I  think  that  must  have  been  why  the 
King  let  him  have  his  own  way  all  through  this 
war  with  Lancelot.  I  am  sure  that  the  King 
himself  must  have  got  back  his  senses  now, 
and  I  almost  think,  after  all,  that  he  never  really 
believed  that  the  Queen  or  Lancelot  could  wish 


246     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

to  do  any  wrong  to  him.  How  could  he  let 
her  come  back  at  all  if  he  believed  that  ?  And 
he  did  let  her  come  back,  but  still  Gawain  was 
firm  against  Lancelot,  and  the  King  would  not 
make  peace  with  him  till  Gawain  wished  it. 

"  When  Lancelot  had  sent  the  Queen  back  to 
King  Arthur  he  thought  that  it  was  of  no  use 
to  stay  in  England  any  longer,  so  he  took  all  his 
knights  and  his  army  with  him  and  crossed 
over  into  France.  He  went  to  Benwick,  his 
father's  old  city  and  his  own  city  now,  because 
his  father  was  dead  long  ago.  And  soon  King 
Arthur  and  Gawain  followed  him  with  their 
army,  for  Gawain  still  vowed  that  he  would  go 
where  Lancelot  went  and  would  not  leave  him 
till  one  of  them  had  killed  the  other.  In  these 
last  dreadful  days  of  King  Arthur's  reign  it 
seems  as  if  no  one  ever  missed  a  chance  of 
making  a  mistake,  and  now  Arthur  made  an- 
other. For  when  he  went  over  to  France  he 
left  Mordred  in  his  place  to  rule  England  till 
he  came  back,  and  he  left  the  Queen  in  Mor- 
dred's  care  too. 

"  So  the  King  and  Gawain  and  their  army 
came  to  Benwick  and  besieged  it,  as  they  had 
besieged  Joyous  Gard.  Lancelot  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  them  again.  He  would  do  anything  if 
they  would  end  the  war  and  not  make  him  fight 
against  the  King  and  his  old  friend.  He  would 
give  up  his  city  to  them,  if  they  would  take  it, 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away  "       247 

and  let  all  the  world  think  that  he  was  beaten, 
when  he  was  not  beaten  at  all,  or  that  he  was 
a  coward  and  did  not  dare  to  fight.  Still  Ga- 
wain  would  be  content  with  nothing  but  that 
Lancelot  must  fight  with  him.  But  he  sent 
back  word  that  if  Lancelot  alone  would  come 
out  and  fight  with  him  atone,  till  one  of  them 
should  kill  the  other,  that  one  fight  should  end 
the  war. 

"  When  this  message  was  brought  to  Lance- 
lot his  friends  told  him  that  it  was  of  no  use 
any  longer  to  hope  for  peace.  Gawain  would 
never  yield,  and  it  must  be  as  he  said  at  last. 
It  would  be  better  for  Lancelot  to  fight  with 
him  now  than  to  wait.  Lancelot  knew  that 
they  were  right,  and  he  sent  word  that  the  next 
morning  he  would  meet  Gawain  outside  the 
city  and  fight  with  him. 

"  They  met  the  next  morning,  in  the  space 
between  the  city  walls  and  King  Arthur's  army. 
Both  the  knights  were  thrown  from  their  horses 
at  the  first  charge,  and  then  it  was  the  old  story 
of  a  sword  fight  that  I  have  told  you  so  many 
times  before.  But  Gawain  had  the  gift  of 
growing  stronger  every  day,  from  nine  o'clock 
till  noon,  and  then  he  had  three  times  his  nat- 
ural strength.  This  had  been  given  to  him  by 
a  magician  long  ago,  and  nobody  knew  that  he 
had  it  except  himself  and  King  Arthur.  Lance- 
lot knew  nothing  about  it,  but  he  had  not  been 


248     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

fighting  long  before  he  knew  that  there  was 
something  strange  about  Gawain's  fighting. 
He  felt  him  growing  so  strong  that  he  scarcely 
tried  to  strike  at  Gawain  at  all,  but  used  all  his 
strength  in  defending  himself.  And  so  for  a 
long  time  neither  of  them  was  much  harmed, 
but  when  noon  came,  all  at  once  Lancelot  felt 
that  Gawain  had  grown  weaker.  Then  he  said  : 
'  Gawain,  I  do  not  know  with  what  magic  you 
have  fought  till  now.  But,  whatever  it  was,  I 
feel  now  that  it  has  left  you  and  you  are  like 
any  other  man.  Now  I  must  begin  to  fight.' 

"  Then  he  struck  Gawain  a  great  blow  on 
the  head  and  wounded  him,  so  that  he  fell,  and 
Lancelot  stood  still  beside  him,  resting  on  his 
sword.  '  Why  do  you  stop  your  fight?'  Ga- 
wain cried.  'You  have  beaten  me;  finish  it 
now  and  kill  me.' 

"  '  You  know,'  said  Lancelot,  '  that  I  cannot 
kill  any  knight  who  is  wounded  and  helpless, 
and  least  of  all  you,  who  have  been  my  friend 
so  long.  Our  fight  is  over.' 

"  '  Kill  me  and  make  an  end  to  it,'  Gawain 
said  again,  '  or  as  soon  as  I  am  cured  of  this 
wound  I  shall  come  and  fight  you  again.' 

"  '  If  I  must  fight  with  you  again/  said  Lance- 
lot, '  I  shall  be  ready  ;  I  can  do  no  more  now." 

"  So  Gawain  was  carried  back  to  his  tent  and 
was  kept  there  for  many  days,  while  his  wound 
was  healing.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  strong 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away  "       249 

enough  he  sent  word  to  Lancelot  that  he  must 
fight  him  again.  There  is  no  need  of  making 
a  long  story  of  it.  Gawain  and  Lancelot  fought 
again  and  the  fight  ended  exactly  as  the  first 
one  had  done.  Lancelot  wounded  Gawain  in 
the  very  same  place  where  he  had  wounded 
him  before,  and  Gawain  was  carried  back  to 
his  tent,  vowing  that  he  would  still  fight  with 
Lancelot  as  soon  as  his  wound  should  heal. 

"  And  what  do  you  suppose  had  been  going 
on  in  England  all  this  time?  You  might  al- 
most guess.  You  would  think  that  Mordred 
could  not  possibly  keep  out  of  mischief  so  long, 
and  you  would  be  quite  right.  King  Arthur 
had  not  had  much  more  than  time  to  get  to 
Benwick  before  Mordred  began  to  tell  people 
that  the  King  was  dead.  He  showed  some 
letters,  which  he  had  written  himself,  but  he 
pretended  that  they  had  come  from  France, 
and  they  said  that  the  King  had  been  killed  in 
a  battle  against  Lancelot.  Of  course  the  only 
thing  to  do  in  such  a  case  was  to  crown  Mor- 
dred himself  as  King,  and  Mordred  took  care 
that  it  should  be  done  in  a  hurry.  Then,  to 
make  everything  as  sure  as  possible,  he  gave 
notice  that  he  was  going  to  marry  Queen 
Guinevere.  Of  course  he  did  not  trouble  him- 
self to  ask  Queen  Guinevere  whether  or  not  it 
suited  her  to  be  married  to  him.  He  had  be- 
gun to  have  his  own  way  and  he  was  resolved 


250     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

to  go  on.  The  Queen  saw  that  it  would  not  do 
any  good  to  pretend  that  she  did  not  want  to  be 
married  to  him,  so  she  let  Mordred  think  that 
there  was  nothing  that  would  please  her  better 
than  to  be  his  wife.  But  she  said  that  if  she  was 
to  be  married  she  should  have  to  go  to  London 
to  get  some  new  gowns.  Mordred  saw  noth- 
ing wrong  about  that  and  he  let  her  go.  Then, 
as  soon  as  she  got  to  London,  she  shut  herself 
up  in  the  Tower  and  found  men  who  were 
friendly  to  her  to  guard  it,  and  waited  for  Mor- 
dred to  come  and  try  to  get  her  out  of  it. 

"  He  came,  you  may  be  sure,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  where  she  was,  and  he  laid  siege  to  the 
Tower,  but  it  was  so  strong,  and  Queen  Guine- 
vere's men  fought  so  well,  that  he  could  not 
take  it.  He  kept  up  the  siege  till  he  heard  that 
King  Arthur  and  all  his  men  were  coming  back 
from  France  and  Lancelot  and  his  men  were 
coming  with  them.  When  he  heard  that  he 
drew  his  army  away  from  London  and  marched 
to  Dover  to  meet  the  King  and  to  keep  him 
from  getting  England  away  from  him. 

"  It  was  true  that  the  King  and  his  men  were 
coming  back  from  France,  but  it  was  not  true 
that  Lancelot  was  coming.  Lancelot  did  not 
know  why  King  Arthur  and  his  army  had  so 
suddenly  left  Benwick.  It  was  because  the 
King  had  heard  of  the  mischief  that  Mordred 
had  done  and  of  the  more  mischief  that  he  was 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       251 

trying  to  do.  Even  Gawain  could  not  ask  the 
King  to  make  war  upon  Lancelot  any  longer, 
when  England  itself  was  likely  to  be  lost.  Ga- 
wain had  been  acting  in  a  mad  fashion  enough 
for  a  long  time,  but  the  news  from  England 
brought  him  back  to  his  senses.  His  wound  was 
nearly  healed  and  he  was  beginning  again  to 
want  to  fight  with  Lancelot,  but  now  he  saw 
all  at  once  what  harm  his  wild  anger  against 
Lancelot  had  done.  He  was  filled  with  shame 
and  grief  at  the  thought  of  it.  '  It  is  I,'  he  said 
to  the  King,  '  who  have  done  all  this.  I  see  it 
now.  It  is  Lancelot  who  has  always  been  your 
truest  and  best  friend,  and  it  is  I  who  have  been 
your  enemy.  I  fear  that  I  have  done  too  much 
for  you  to  forgive,  but  there  is  hope  still,  for  I 
know  that  Lancelot  will  still  be  your  friend. 
Send  for  him  ;  tell  him  that  I  was  wrong  in 
everything — that  I  confess  it — and  ask  him  to 
go  with  you  and  help  you  to  win  back  England 
from  Mordred.' 

"  If  the  King  had  ever  doubted  Lancelot  he 
doubted  him  no  longer  now.  Gawain,  who 
had  been  against  him  so  long,  was  for  him  now. 
But  the  King  looked  sadly  at  Gawain  and  shook 
his  head.  '  Gawain,  Gawain,'  he  said, '  we  have 
gone  too  far.  We  have  wronged  Lancelot  too 
much.  We  cannot  ask  him  to  help  us  now.  We 
must  fight  our  battles  and  win  them  or  lose 
them  by  ourselves.' 


252     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

"  So  the  King  and  Gawain  and  their  army 
left  Lancelot  and  Benwick  and  crossed  into 
England,  As  soon  as  they  landed  at  Dover 
Mordred  met  them  and  there  was  a  hard  battle. 
Many  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides 
and  at  last  Mordred  was  driven  back.  But 
when  the  battle  was  over  Gawain  had  been 
wounded  again  just  where  Lancelot  had 
wounded  him  twice  before. 

"  And  this  time  he  felt  that  he  could  not  live. 
Then  Gawain  thought:  *  If  the  King  could  not 
ask  Lancelot  to  help  him,  yet  surely  I  can  ask 
him,  now  that  I  am  dying.  It  was  I  who 
wronged  him  and  I  who  was  his  enemy.  But 
when  he  comes  I  shall  not  be  here  any  more, 
and  I  know  that  he  always  loved  the  King  and 
that  he  loves  him  still.' 

"  And  Gawain  told  those  who  were  about 
him  to  bring  him  pen  and  paper,  and  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  Lancelot.  The  letter  said :  '  Sir 
Lancelot,  I  am  dying  from  a  wound  that  I  got 
in  battle  to-day,  just  where  you  wounded  me 
twice.  I  have  been  blind  and  deaf  and  mad  all 
this  while.  I  would  not  see  or  hear  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  is,  Lancelot,  that  it  is  you  who 
have  been  always  the  King's  friend  and  that  it 
is  I  who,  in  these  last  days,  have  been  his 
enemy.  My  pride  and  my  selfishness  and  my 
anger  have  almost  ruined  the  King,  but  it  may 
be  that  your  true  love  and  your  strength 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       253 

save  him  yet.  Come  and  help  him,  Lancelot. 
I  have  given  you  cause  to  hate  me,  but  do  not 
stay  away  from  the  King  for  that,  for  when  you 
come  to  him  I  shall  be  dead.' 

"  This  letter  Gawain  gave  to  a  messenger 
and  ordered  him  to  cross  with  it  to  France  and 
to  ride  as  fast  as  he  could  to  Benwick  and  give 
it  to  Lancelot.  And  a  little  while  after  that 
Gawain  died. 

"  The  next  day  King  Arthur  marched  against 
Mordred.  Mordred,  with  his  army,  fell  back 
before  him  and  day  after  day  the  King  pushed 
him  farther  and  farther  into  the  West,  till  at 
last  the  two  armies  were  here  in  Cornwall. 
They  had  both  been  gathering  strength  as  they 
marched,  for  many  knights  and  many  other 
men  joined  them  as  they  passed  through  the 
country.  Some  joined  Mordred  because  they 
were  friends  to  Lancelot,  not  knowing,  they 
were  so  little  and  so  narrow  themselves,  that 
Lancelot  was  great  enough  to  be  the  King's 
friend  still. 

"  At  last  Mordred  and  his  army  halted  and 
would  retreat  no  farther.  Then  it  seemed  that 
the  great  battle  must  come  the  next  day.  But 
that  night  King  Arthur  had  a  dream.  He 
dreamed  that  Gawain  came  and  stood  before 
him,  and  Gawain  said :  '  My  lord,  do  not  fight 
with  Mordred  to-morrow.  If  you  fight  with 
him  to-morrow  you  will  be  killed.  But  put  off 


254     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  battle  for  a  little  while  and  Lancelot  and  all 
his  knights  and  all  his  men  will  come  to  help 
you.' 

"  In  the  morning,  when  the  King  awoke,  he 
sent  messengers  to  Mordred  to  ask  him  to  meet 
him  between  the  lines  of  the  two  armies  and 
agree  upon  a  truce.  So  it  was  arranged  that 
Arthur  and  Mordred  should  each  bring  four- 
teen knights  and  that  they  should  meet  half- 
way between  the  two  armies.  Then  Arthur 
said  to  his  knights  whom  he  left  behind :  '  I  do 
not  trust  Mordred.  I  fear  that  he  will  try 
some  treachery.  So  watch  us  when  we  meet 
and  while  we  talk,  and  if  you  see  any  sword 
drawn  among  the  men  on  either  side,  do  not 
wait  for  any  more,  but  charge  forward  and  be- 
gin the  battle.'  And  Mordred,  before  he  went 
to  meet  the  King,  gave  just  the  same  command 
to  his  knights  who  stayed  behind. 

"  All  the  knights  who  went  with  the  King 
and  with  Mordred  were  told  that  this  was  to 
be  a  peaceful  meeting  and  that  no  sword  must 
be  drawn.  But  after  the  King  and  Mordred 
had  met  and  while  they  were  talking,  a  little 
snake  came  out  from  under  a  bush  and  stung  the 
foot  of  one  of  the  knights.  The  knight  forgot 
the  order  that  had  been  given  and  drew  his 
sword  to  kill  the  snake.  But  the  men  of  the 
armies  were  too  far  away  to  see  the  snake  and 
to  know  why  the  sword  was  drawn.  They  saw 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       255 

only  the  flash  of  the  drawn  sword  and  that  was 
the  signal  of  battle.  It  was  of  no  use  for  Ar- 
thur or  for  Mordred  to  try  to  stop  them  or  to  de- 
lay the  battle  then.  The  trumpets  blew,  the 
knights  charged  forward,  the  two  great  waves 
of  horses  and  men  broke  upon  each  other  with 
a  harsh  rattle  and  jangle  and  clash  of  arms  all 
along  the  field,  and  the  battle  was  joined. 

"  In  all  his  long  reign,  King  Arthur  had 
never  fought  such  a  battle  as  this  before. 
There  were  thousands  of  men  on  each  side  and 
they  were  all  men  who  had  learned  to  fight  in 
King  Arthur's  own  battles  and  tournaments. 
They  were  men  who  had  learned  from  him  to 
fight  and  to  fight  and  to  go  on  fighting  and  never 
to  stop  till  they  had  won.  With  men  like  that 
on  both  sides  there  was  only  one  way  that  the 
battle  could  end.  The  battle  went  on  all  day. 
Slowly  the  knights  on  each  side  grew  fewer 
and  fewer  and  all  who  saw  them  knew  that  the 
fight  would  go  on  till  there  was  none  at  all  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  Arthur's  men  were 
faithful  to  him  to  their  last  breath,  and  Mor- 
dred's  men  felt  that  they  should  be  ruined  if 
they  were  beaten.  Once  Arthur  saw  one  of 
his  old  knights  surrounded  by  enemies,  and  the 
old  knight's  son  was  close  beside  the  King. 
The  King  and  those  around  him  had  as  much 
fighting  as  they  could  do,  but  Arthur  said  to 
the  young  knight :  '  Do  you  not  see  your  father 


256     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

there  in  danger?  Why  do  you  not  go  to  help 
him?' 

"  And  the  young  knight  answered :  '  My 
lord,  my  father  told  me  this  morning  to  stay 
beside  you  all  day  and  to  let  nothing  draw  me 
away  from  you.  My  father  is  a  good  knight 
and  he  must  fight  for  himself.'  And  the  old 
knight  was  killed,  and  afterward  the  son  was 
killed,  too. 

"  When  the  evening  came  there  were  few 
left  to  fight.  It  may  be  that  some  had  run 
away,  but  the  most  were  dead  or  wounded. 
King  Arthur  stood  with  only  two  of  his  knights 
beside  him.  They  were  Sir  Lucan  and  Sir 
Bedivere.  The  King  looked  all  about  him  and 
saw  only  one  other  man  near.  And  that  was 
Mordred.  The  King  spoke  under  his  breath  : 
'  The  end  is  come,  I  fear,  for  all  of  us,  but  be- 
fore I  die  that  man  there  shall  die,  who  has 
brought  this  end  to  all  of  us.' 

"Sir  Lucan  and  Sir  Bedivere  tried  to  hold 
him  back.  '  My  lord,'  said  Sir  Bedivere,  '  do 
not  try  to  fight  any  more  with  him  to-day,  or 
he  may  kill  you.  Remember  what  Gawain 
said  to  you  in  your  dream.  Mordred  has  no 
friends  left  now.  Leave  him  for  to-night,  and 
to-morrow  we  can  do  justice  upon  him.' 

" '  No,'  said  the  King,  '  that  traitor  shall 
not  live  any  longer,  and  I  will  kill  him  my- 
self.' 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       257 

"  Arthur  had  his  sword  Excalibur  in  his 
hand.  He  rushed  upon  Mordred  with  it  and 
struck  him  one  blow  upon  the  head,  and  Mor- 
dred fell  down  dead.  But  Arthur  had  been  so 
eager  against  Mordred  that  he  had  not  thought 
to  defend  himself.  Mordred  had  struck  too  at 
the  same  time  and  had  struck  well  and  Arthur 
had  a  great  wound  on  his  head.  Lucan  and 
Bedivere  went  to  him  and  he  tried  to  stand, 
but  he  could  not.  '  You  must  help  me,'  he 
said,  '  to  some  place  of  shelter ;  I  cannot  help 
myself  any  more.' 

"  They  tried  to  lift  him  up,  but  Lucan,  who 
had  been  wounded  in  the  battle,  suddenly  fell 
down  beside  the  King  and  died.  Then  Arthur 
said:  '  Bedivere,  you  are  the  last  one  left  to  me 
and  there  is  only  a  little  more  that  you  can  do. 
Take  my  sword  Excalibur  and  go  up  this  hill 
here  before  us.  At  the  top  of  it  there  is  a  lake. 
Throw  my  sword  into  the  lake,  as  far  out  into 
the  middle  of  it  as  you  can,  and  then  come  back 
and  tell  me  what  you  see.' 

"  Bedivere  took  the  sword  and  climbed  the 
hill  and  came  to  this  very  spot  where  we  are 
standing.  But  on  the  way  he  looked  at  the 
sword  and  at  the  jewels  in  the  hilt  and  he 
thought :  '  It  would  be  wrong  to  throw  away 
this  beautiful  sword.  I  will  hide  it  here,  in- 
stead of  throwing  it  into  the  lake.  Then,  if  the 
King  is  cured  of  his  wound,  he  will  be  glad  to 
17 


258     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

have  his  sword  again,  and  if  he  dies,  someone 
else  can  have  it.' 

"  So  he  hid  the  sword  among  the  reeds  that 
grew  by  the  side  of  the  lake  and  went  back  to 
the  King.  '  Did  you  throw  my  sword  into  the 
lake?'  the  King  asked. 

"  '  Yes,  my  lord,'  said  Bedivere. 

"  '  And  what  did  you  see  or  hear?'  said  the 
King. 

"  '  Nothing,'  said  Bedivere,  '  but  the  water 
and  the  wind.' 

"  '  Then  you  did  not  throw  it  in,'  the  King 
answered.  '  Go  back  now  and  throw  it  in,  as  I 
told  you,  and  come  back  and  tell  me  what  you 
see.' 

"  Then  Bedivere  went  up  the  hill  again  to 
the  lake  and  took  the  sword  out  from  where  he 
had  hidden  it.  He  held  it  up  in  the  moonlight 
and  saw  the  shining  of  the  rich  jewels  and  the 
gleam  of  the  long  blade  and  again  he  thought: 
'  It  would  be  a  sin  to  lose  such  a  wonderful 
thing  as  this.  The  King  is  wounded  and  weak 
and  he  is  wandering  in  his  mind,  or  else  he 
would  not  tell  me  to  do  it.  I  will  tell  him  again 
that  I  have  thrown  it  in.' 

He  hid  the  sword  again  and  went  back  to  the 
King,  and  the  King  said :  '  Did  you  throw  my 
sword  into  the  lake?' 

" '  Yes,  my  lord,'  said  Bedivere,  '  I  threw 
it  in.' 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       259 

"  '  And  what  did  you  see  or  hear  ?  '  said  Ar- 
thur. 

" '  I  saw  nothing  but  the  water,'  said  Bedi- 
vere,  '  and  I  heard  nothing  but  the  wind  and 
the  waves.' 

"  '  Oh,  Bedivere,'  said  Arthur,  'you  are  the 
last  of  my  knights  and  you  will  not  obey  me. 
Go  now  once  more  and  throw  my  sword  as  far 
as  you  can  out  into  the  lake.  And  if  you  do 
not  obey  me  this  time,  when  you  come  again, 
wounded  as  I  am,  I  will  rise  up  and  kill  you,  if 
I  can,  with  my  hands.' 

"  Then  Bedivere  went  as  fast  as  he  could  up 
the  hill  again  and  found  the  sword  and  took  it 
and  swung  it  above  his  head  and  threw  it  as 
far  as  he  could  out  over  the  lake.  He  watched 
it  as  it  whirled  through  the  air,  and  when  it  was 
near  the  water  he  saw  an  arm,  covered  with 
white  silk,  come  up  out  of  the  water.  The 
hand  caught  the  sword  as  it  fell  and  brandished 
it  three  times  in  a  circle,  and  then  the  hand  and 
the  arm  went  down  under  the  water,  and  Bedi- 
vere went  back  and  told  the  King.  '  And  now, 
Bedivere,'  said  Arthur,  '  help  me  to  go  to  the 
lake  too.' 

"  But  the  King  could  not  stand  at  all,  so 
Bedivere  took  him  on  his  back  and  carried  him 
up  the  hill  to  the  side  of  the  lake.  And  there 
they  saw  a  boat  lying  close  to  the  shore.  It 
was  filled  with  women,  all  dressed  in  black,  and 


260     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

three,  who  stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  were 
queens  and  wore  crowns.  '  Put  me  in  the  boat,' 
said  Arthur,  and  Bedivere  carried  him  to  the 
boat  and  the  three  queens  received  him,  and  all 
the  women  in  the  boat  wept  when  they  saw 
him.  The  three  queens  laid  him  down  and  one 
of  them  took  his  head  in  her  lap  and  said  :  '  My 
dear  brother,  why  did  you  wait  so  long?  You 
should  have  come  here  to  us  as  soon  as  you  had 
this  wound.' 

"  And  this  woman  was  King  Arthur's  sister, 
Queen  Morgan-le-Fay.  I  don't  know  when  or 
why  she  had  ceased  to  be  his  enemy  and  had 
become  his  friend,  but  she  was  his  friend  now 
and  she  did  all  that  she  could  to  help  him  and 
to  cure  his  wound. 

"  Then  Bedivere  saw  that  the  boat  was  mov- 
ing from  the  shore,  and  he  cried  :  '  My  lord — 
my  King — where  shall  I  go  and  what  shall  I 
do  without  you  ?  Let  me  go  with  you  where 
you  go  and  die  with  you,  if  you  are  to  die.' 

"  But  Arthur  answered  :  '  Do  not  be  grieved 
for  me,  Bedivere,  but  go  your  own  way.  Per- 
haps you  may  hear  of  me  again,  but  now  I  can 
do  no  more  for  you  or  for  my  people.  I  am 
going  to  the  Valley  of  Avalon,  to  be  cured  of 
my  wound,  and  some  time,  perhaps,  when  my 
wound  is  well,  I  shall  come  again.' 

"  Then  the  boat  moved  farther  and  farther 
away  along  the  lake.  The  King  did  not  speak 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       261 

again,  but  Bedivere  could  hear  Queen  Morgan- 
le-Fay  speaking  softly  to  him,  and  he  could 
hear  the  other  women  weeping.  Only  for  a 
little  while  he  could  hear  them,  and  then  he 
strained  his  eyes  to  see  the  boat  as  long  as  he 
could.  But  the  light  was  dim  and  soon  the 
dark  shape  of  the  boat  mixed  with  the  dark 
shadows  and  was  lost. 

"  And  so  King  Arthur  floated  away  to  Ava- 
lon.  You  know  that  Avalon  was  Glastonbury, 
and  you  do  not  see,  perhaps,  how  any  boat 
could  go  from  this  mountain  lake,  all  shut  in  by 
the  land,  out  to  the  sea  and  inland  again  to  that 
island  with  the  marsh  around  it.  You  must 
think  of  the  magic  of  Queen  Morgan-le-Fay. 
Where  she  wanted  her  boat  to  go  I  am  sure 
that  water-ways  would  open  of  themselves  to 
let  her  pass.  A  ship  with  her  upon  it  would 
go  as  fast  and  as  far  as  she  would  have  it  go. 
And  then,  one  of  the  old  stories  says,  they  had 
a  pilot  who  knew  all  the  seas  and  all  the  stars 
of  the  heavens. 

"  Sir  Bedivere  looked  after  the  boat  till  it 
had  been  gone  from  his  sight  for  a  long  time. 
Then  he  turned  away  from  the  lake,  went  down 
the  hill,  and  wandered  away  through  the  woods. 
He  did  not  know  where  he  was  going  and  he 
did  not  care.  He  scarcely  saw  what  places  he 
passed.  He  was  thinking  of  his  King  who  had 
been  taken  away  from  him.  He  thought  of 


262     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

the  bright  old  days  when  Arthur  won  his 
crown  in  the  battles  with  the  rebel  Kings,  when 
his  own  knights  learned  to  love  his  strength 
and  his  truth  and  his  nobleness.  He  thought 
of  the  happy  days  when  the  greatest  knights 
of  the  world  gathered  at  the  Round  Table  in 
Camelot.  He  thought  of  how  they  had  helped 
the  King  to  bring  peace  and  plenty  and  content 
to  the  land.  He  thought  of  the  sad  later  days 
and  of  these  last  days  of  all  and  he  wished  that 
he  might  have  died  before  they  came.  He 
could  not  think  at  all  yet  of  what  he  was  still 
to  do  or  how  he  was  to  live  without  his  King. 

"  So,  deep  in  these  sad  thoughts,  he  went  on 
and  on,  stopped  now  and  then,  where  he  could, 
to  eat  or  drink,  because  he  knew  he  must,  or 
lay  down  in  the  forest  to  sleep,  but  never 
thought  and  never  knew  how  long  he  had  been 
on  the  way  or  how  weary  he  was.  At  last  he 
heard  a  bell  and  saw  an  abbey  before  him.  He 
went  into  the  chapel  and  saw  a  man  kneeling 
upon  a  tomb.  The  man  rose  and  came  to  meet 
him.  He  was  the  abbot.  '  Sir,'  said  Bedivere, 
'  whose  tomb  is  that  where  I  saw  you  praying  ?  ' 

"  '  I  do  not  know,'  said  the  abbot.  '  Last  night 
a  great  company  of  ladies  came  here  and 
brought  a  dead  man  and  begged  me  to  bury 
him.  And  I  buried  him  in  that  tomb  there  be- 
fore the  altar,  but  they  did  not  tell  me  who  he 
was.' 


"  The  Wailing  Died  Away"       263 

" '  Then  I  will  tell  you,'  said  Bedivere.  '  If  a 
company  of  ladies  brought  him,  it  was  King 
Arthur.' 

"  Then  Bedivere  asked  the  hermit  to  let  him 
stay  there  and  live  with  him.  And  he  stayed 
for  a  long  time  there  in  the  Abbey  of  Glaston- 
bury,  and  visited  the  poor  and  the  sick,  and  at 
last  he  became  a  priest. 

"  And  that  was  all  that  was  known  of  how 
King  Arthur  passed  away  from  the  battle,  of 
how  he  came  to  Avalon,  and  of  how  he  was 
buried.  The  abbot  did  not  know  who  the  man 
was  whom  he  had  buried,  till  Bedivere  told 
him,  and  Bedivere  thought  that  he  was  King 
Arthur  only  because  a  company  of  ladies  had 
brought  him.  But  Arthur  himself  had  told 
Bedivere  that  he  was  going  to  Avalon  to  be 
cured  of  his  wound,  and  that  some  time  he 
might  come  again.  And  so,  on  a  stone  over  the 
grave  at  Glastonbury,  they  put  the  words : 

1bic  jacet  Hrtburus, 

IRei  quondam  IRexque  futurus* 

That  is  Latin  and  it  means:  'Here  lies  Arthur, 
King  that  was  and  King  that  shall  be.'  And 
so  it  was  long  believed  that  some  time  King  Ar- 
thur would  come  back  to  conquer  the  foes  of 
England  and  to  save  the  people.  Some  said 
that  he  was  taken  away  in  the  boat  to  some 


264     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

happy  island,  to  be  cured  of  his  wound  and  to 
wait  for  the  time  when  England  should  need 
him  most.  Some  said  that  he  was  sleeping 
down  under  the  ground,  with  his  knights,  at 
Caerleon-upon-Usk,  and  others  that  he  was  in 
the  enchanted  castle  on  the  hill  at  Camelot. 
Some  believed  that  he  was  a  raven,  flying 
around  the  Cornish  coast,  and  some  that  he 
was  dead  like  other  men,  and  in  his  grave  in 
the  Abbey  of  Glastonbury." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  ABBESS  AND  THE  MONK 

WE  did  get  back  to  Glastonbury  at  last,  and 
this  time  we  did  not  miss  seeing  the  abbey. 
We  spent  some  time  in  tracing  it  all  out  from 
its  ruins.  It  was  a  great  and  beautiful  church 
in  its  time.  Now  it  has  been  crumbling  and 
falling  for  many  years.  Worse  than  that,  the 
people  of  the  country  about  here,  when  they 
wanted  stone  for  building,  instead  of  finding 
new  stone,  used  to  come  and  take  some  from  the 
old  abbey.  But,  after  all  that  time  and  men 
could  do  to  it,  much  of  it  still  stands,  and  it  is 
full  of  that  sad,  sweet  beauty  and  stateliness 
that  nothing  but  a  ruin  ever  has.  The  walls  of 
St.  Joseph's  chapel  still  remain,  all  covered  with 
ivy,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  choir  left,  and 
there  are  two  of  the  great,  tall  piers  that  held 
the  tower.  Then,  some  way  off,  there  is  the 
abbot's  kitchen,  still  all  but  perfect. 

We  found  the  place,  or  thought  we  did, 
265 


266     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

where  Joseph  of  Arimathasa  first  built  his  little 
church  of  wood  and  woven  twigs.  We  tried 
to  find  the  spot  where  King  Arthur  was  buried. 
That  is  not  easy,  but  we  hit  upon  a  place  at  last 
where  we  thought  it  must  have  been.  When 
Henry  II  was  King  a  search  was  made  for 
King  Arthur's  grave  by  his  order.  They 
found  it,  they  said,  and  Henry  had  a  monument 
put  over  it.  The  monument  is  gone  now,  prob- 
ably carried  away,  like  so  much  of  the  abbey, 
to  build  stables,  or  something  else  just  as  noble 
and  important,  and  there  is  nothing  left  to  show 
where  it  stood.  If  we  were  talking  of  history 
instead  of  stories  I  might  have  something  to 
say  about  this  one  of  Henry  II.  But,  as  it  is, 
it  may  as  well  stand  with  the  rest  of  them. 

"  There  is  one  more  story,"  I  said,  "  that  I 
must  tell  you  while  we  are  here  among  these 
ruins.  Then  I  shall  have  told  you  all  that  I 
set  out  to  tell,  and  we  shall  have  made  the  jour- 
ney that  we  set  out  to  make. 

"  When  the  letter  that  Gawain  wrote  was 
brought  to  Lancelot  he  lost  no  time  in  calling 
his  knights  and  his  army  together  and  starting 
toward  England  to  help  King  Arthur.  If  the 
King  could  only  have  delayed  that  last  great 
battle,  as  he  tried  to  do,  Lancelot  would  have 
been  with  him  and  all  would  have  been  well. 
But  when  Lancelot  landed  at  Dover  the  people 
told  him  that  he  had  come  too  late.  They  told 


The  Abbess  and  the  Monk         267 

him  of  the  battle  that  had  been  fought  there,  in 
which  Gawain  was  killed,  and  of  the  greater 
battle  that  had  been  fought  afterward  far  away 
in  the  West.  All  that  they  could  tell  him  of 
the  King  was  that  he  was  gone.  Some  said 
that  he  was  dead,  and  some  that  he  had  been 
carried  away  to  Fairyland,  where  he  would  live 
till  his  people  needed  him. 

"  Then  Lancelot  asked :  '  Where  is  the 
Queen  ? ' 

" '  She  shut  herself  up  in  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don," some  one  answered,  '  to  save  herself  from 
Mordred.  Then,  when  Mordred  left  London 
and  came  here  to  meet  the  King,  she  left  the 
Tower,  too,  and  they  say  that  she  went  to  some 
abbey  and  is  living  with  the  nuns.' 

"  Then  Lancelot  told  Bors  and  the  other 
knights  who  were  with  him  to  wait  at  Dover 
while  he  went  to  find  the  Queen.  He  rode 
alone  through  the  country,  asking  at  all  the 
abbeys  that  he  found,  and  at  last  he  came  to 
Almesbury,  the  place  that  is  now  called  Ames- 
bury,  where  we  went,  you  know,  on  our  way 
to  Stonehenge.  And  at  the  abbey  there  he 
saw  the  Queen  walking  in  the  cloister.  She 
saw  him  too  and  came  to  meet  him. 

" '  I  have  come,'  Lancelot  said,  '  to  take  you 
from  this  place.  The  King  is  gone  from  us 
now,  and  we  shall  never  see  him  in  this  world 
again.  Come  with  me  now  to  my  own  city. 


268     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

While  the  King  was  with  us  I  did  not  care 
whether  I  had  a  city.  I  thought  it  grander 
and  nobler  to  be  his  knight  than  to  be  King  of 
all  the  world  but  England.  You  know,  my 
Queen,  that  I  am  King  of  Benwick.  Come 
with  me  now  and  be  my  Queen  still,  more  my 
Queen  than  ever,  the  Queen  of  Beuwick.  It 
is  a  little  place,  but  my  people  love  me,  and 
they  will  love  you,  too.' 

"  '  Lancelot/  said  the  Queen,  'we  must  not 
think  of  such  things — I  must  not.  You  must 
go  back  and  rule  your  people  well  and  make 
them  happy — yes,  and  be  happy  yourself,  if  you 
can — but  I  must  stay  here  and  try  to  do  a  little 
good  to  the  poor,  and  fast  and  pray,  so  that 
God  will  forgive  me  and  so  that  he  will  forgive 
you  and  let  us  see  our  Arthur  in  another  world, 
since  we  cannot  in  this.  For,  Lancelot,  do  you 
know  that  it  is  because  of  us — because  of  me 
and  of  you — that  our  Arthur  has  gone  from 
us? ' 

"  '  No,  no,'  said  Lancelot,  '  it  is  not  true.  I 
will  not  let  you  say  such  things  of  yourself, 
even  though  you  say  them  of  me.  We  did 
nothing  that  was  wrong,  you  and  I.  They 
charged  us  with  some  plot — I  do  not  know 
what  it  was,  and  they  did  not  know  themselves. 
Then  I  saved  you  and  I  saved  myself,  as  it  was 
right  that  I  should  do.  The  King  made  war 
on  me.  I  made  no  war  on  him.  I  only  guarded 


The  Abbess  and  the  Monk         269 

my  knights  and  my  people.  I  would  not  even 
have  fought  with  Gawain,  only  he  would  have 
it  so.  And  when  I  heard  that  the  King  needed 
me  here  in  England  I  came  back  to  help  him, 
and  it  was  too  late.  But  it  was  the  traitors 
who  brought  all  this  death  and  ruin.' 

"  '  It  was  not  that  we  did  any  wrong,  Lance- 
lot/ said  the  Queen,  '  it  was  that  we  did  not  do 
all  that  was  right.  You  would  rather  be  Ar- 
thur's knight,  you  said,  than  to  be  King  of  all 
the  world  but  England.  Ah,  yes,  but  what  of 
England?  Did  you  never  wish,  even  in  your 
heart,  that  you  were  King  of  that  ?  Arthur 
had  noble  thoughts  for  the  good  of  his  country 
and  of  his  people,  and  you  swore  to  be  faithful 
in  everything  to  him  and  to  help  him.  And  so 
your  thoughts,  Lancelot,  should  have  been  all 
for  the  King  and  for  his  people,  and  so  should 
mine.  And  were  they  so  ?  Did  you  never  for- 
get these  things  and  work  and  fight  for  your 
own  name  and  your  own  glory,  instead  of  for 
the  glory  of  the  King  and  for  the  good  of  Eng- 
land ?  You  fought,  too,  many  times,  for  my 
name  and  for  my  glory,  and  I  was  foolish  and 
let  you  do  it,  when  my  thoughts,  too,  should 
have  been  all  for  him  and  for  England.  But 
here  alone,  since  we  were  all  parted,  I  have  had 
time  to  think,  and  I  have  seen  more  clearly  than 
I  ever  saw  before.  Lancelot,  it  is  not  the  great 
sins  of  the  wicked  people  that  bring  ruin  to  the 


270     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

world  ;  it  is  the  follies  and  the  failings  of  those 
who  should  be  most  true  and  most  faithful,  and 
so  help  and  save  the  world,  but  do  not  do  it. 
We  were  the  nearest  to  the  King,  I  his  Queen 
and  you  his  greatest  knight.  We  should  have 
been  as  strong  and  as  firm  in  our  faithfulness  to 
him  as  he  was  to  himself.  If  we  ever  had  self- 
ish and  vain  thoughts,  thoughts  that  were  not 
for  the  King,  for  a  single  hour,  it  was  a  worse 
wrong  in  us  than  the  wrongs  that  those  poor, 
weak  knights  did  when  they  let  Mordred  per- 
suade them  and  lead  them  against  the  King. 
Do  you  not  know  why  you  could  not  see  the 
Holy  Grail,  as  Galahad  and  Percivale  and  Bors 
saw  it?  This  was  why.  And  they  could  see  it 
because  in  every  thought  and  wish  they  were 
true  to  what  they  and  all  of  the  Round  Table 
swore  to  the  King.  And  so,  Lancelot,  my  own 
best  knight,  as  there  is  work  for  you  to  do 
among  your  people,  go  and  do  it,  but  I  must 
stay  here  and  do  a  little  good,  if  I  can,  and  pray 
for  you  and  for  myself,  so  that  some  time  we 
may  be  nearer  to  the  King  than  we  have  ever 
been.' 

" '  If  you  are  right,'  said  Lancelot,  '  and  you 
must  be  right — if  you  are  right  in  staying  here 
and  doing  what  you  say  that  you  will  do,  then 
it  is  right  for  me,  too.  I  will  not  go  back  to 
France.  I  will  find  some  peaceful  place  and 
some  good  man,  some  hermit  perhaps,  and  ask 


The  Abbess  and  the  Monk         271 

him  to  let  me  stay  with  him  and  do  as  you  are 
doing.  Pray  for  me  sometimes,  my  Queen,  and 
I  will  pray  for  you  always.' 

"  Now  I  can  guess  just  what  you  think  of  all 
this.  You  think  that  Lancelot  had  not  done 
any  wrong  at  all  and  that  the  Queen  was  a 
great  deal  too  hard  on  him.  But  I  know  that 
the  Queen  was  right.  Think  over  all  that  she 
said  again  and  you  will  know  it  too.  The 
Queen  and  Lancelot  had  stood  next  to  the 
King  for  all  these  years.  They  had  been  proud 
of  him  and  proud  that  they  were  so  near  to 
him,  and  if  they  had  been  steadfast  in  all  that 
they  did  and  said  and  thought,  nothing  could 
ever  have  harmed  him  or  his  country  while 
they  all  lived.  But  sometimes  they  were  weak 
and  thoughtless,  and  then  the  King  was  left  to 
work  alone.  Though  this  was  all  that  they  had 
done  amiss,  it  was  enough. 

"  So  Lancelot  left  the  Queen  and  went  on  his 
way.  And  Guinevere  stayed  there  at  Almes- 
bury  and  lived  with  the  nuns.  She  never  left 
the  abbey  except  to  walk  a  little  way  among 
the  fields,  in  the  woods,  and  along  the  river 
that  we  saw  when  we  were  at  Amesbury,  or, 
more  often,  to  carry  help  or  comfort  to  the 
poor  or  the  sick. 

"  After  she  had  been  with  the  nuns  for  a  time 
she  became  one  of  them,  and  no  one  among 
them  worked  more  than  she  for  the  people  near 


272     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

who  needed  help,  and  no  one  among  them  was 
loved  more  than  she.  And  no  one,  even  of 
those  who  knew  her  best,  could  tell  whether 
she  was  happy.  But  they  all  knew  that  she 
was  always  gentle  and  patient,  that  she  never 
said  that  her  work  was  hard,  that  she  never 
seemed  to  wish  for  her  old  life,  and  that  the 
sick  people  watched  for  her  and  the  poor  people 
prayed  for  her.  And  when  the  old  abbess  died 
they  were  all  sure  that  no  one  could  take  her 
place  so  well  as  Guinevere.  And  so,  for  what 
was  left  of  her  life,  Guinevere  was  abbess  at 
Almesbury. 

"  When  Lancelot  rode  away  from  Almesbury 
he  felt  that  it  was  nothing  to  him  where  he 
went.  He  felt  that  he  hated  courts  and  tourna- 
ments and  battle-fields  now,  and  he  wished  only 
to  find  some  place  away  from  the  busy  and 
noisy  world,  where  he  could  live  as  the  Queen 
was  living.  And  so  he  wandered  here  to  Glas- 
tonbury.  And  when  he  found  Bedivere  here, 
when  Bedivere  had  told  him  all  about  the  great 
battle,  and  when  he  had  shown  him  the  grave 
in  the  chapel  where  he  believed  that  King  Ar- 
thur was  buried,  then  Lancelot  begged  the  ab- 
bot to  let  him  stay  here  and  be  a  monk  with 
the  rest  of  them  as  long  as  he  lived.  And  the 
abbot  and  Bedivere  were  both  glad  to  have 
him  stay.  So  Lancelot,  too,  lived  his  life  among 
his  brother  monks  and  among  the  poor  and  the 


The  Abbess  and  the  Monk         273 

sick,  and  they  all  learned  to  love  him,  as,  long 
ago,  all  the  good  knights  in  Arthur's  court  had 
learned  to  love  him. 

"  Bors  and  his  fellows  waited  for  Lancelot  at 
Dover  for  a  long  time.  At  last  Bors  sent  the 
army  back  to  France,  with  all  the  knights  ex- 
cept a  few  who  were  the  best  friends  of  Lance- 
lot. With  these  he  set  out  through  England  to 
search  for  him.  They  searched  for  a  long  time 
and  at  last  they  found  him.  And  when  they 
saw  that  he  was  a  monk  they  said  that  they 
would  all  stay  at  Glastonbury  and  be  monks 
too. 

"  When  Lancelot  had  been  at  Glastonbury 
for  a  long  time  he  had  a  dream  one  night.  He 
dreamed  that  an  angel  stood  beside  him  and 
said  to  him  :  '  Lancelot,  take  all  your  fellows 
here  who  were  knights  of  the  Round  Table  to- 
morrow and  go  to  Almesbury.  When  you 
come  there  the  abbess,  Queen  Guinevere,  will 
be  dead.  Bring  her  here  and  bury  her  in  the 
chapel  beside  the  King.'  And  twice  more  that 
same  night  Lancelot  had  this  dream. 

"  In  the  morning  Lancelot  told  the  abbot  of 
his  dream,  and  the  abbot  said  that  it  would  be 
best  for  him  to  take  his  fellows  with  him  and 
go  to  Almesbury,  as  he  had  been  told  to  do. 
So  they  all  set  out,  and  when  they  came  to  the 
abbey  at  Almesbury  the  nuns  knew  who  they 
were  and  why  they  had  come,  without  being 
iS 


274     The  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

told.  For  they  said  :  '  Our  abbess  died  not  an 
hour  ago,  and  she  told  us  that  after  she  was 
dead  the  monk  who  used  to  be  Sir  Lancelot 
of  the  Lake  would  come  for  her  and  would 
bury  her  at  Glastonbury,  beside  the  King. 
She  had  been  told  of  it  in  a  dream.' 

"  So  Lancelot  and  his  fellows  took  the  body 
of  the  Queen  back  with  them  to  Glastonbury. 
There  they  made  another  grave  before  the 
altar  in  the  chapel,  beside  the  grave  of  King 
Arthur,  and  buried  Queen  Guinevere  in  it. 

"  And  after  this  was  done  Lancelot  would 
scarcely  leave  that  chapel.  He  was  there  for 
nearly  all  of  every  day  and  much  of  every 
night,  kneeling  over  the  graves  of  the  King 
and  the  Queen  and  praying.  He  would  eat 
scarcely  anything  and  he  slept  but  little.  And 
so  he  grew  thin  and  pale  and  weak.  The  abbot 
and  his  friends  could  not  comfort  him  or  make 
him  eat,  and  at  last  he  told  them  that  he  should 
live  only  a  little  longer.  '  When  I  am  dead,' 
he  said,  '  take  me  and  bury  me  in  the  chapel  of 
my  own  old  castle  of  Joyous  Gard.  I  would 
far  rather  lie  here  in  your  chapel,  near  my  King 
and  my  Queen,  but  years  ago  I  made  a  vow 
that  I  would  be  buried  in  Joyous  Gard,  and  I 
must  keep  that  vow,  so  take  me  there.' 

"  That  night  the  abbot  awoke  some  of  the 
monks  by  laughing  aloud  in  his  sleep.  They 
went  to  the  abbot's  bed  and  he  awoke  and  said  : 


The  Abbess  and  the  Monk         275 

'  I  have  had  the  most  beautiful  dream  that  I 
have  ever  had  in  my  life.' 

"  '  What  was  it?  '  said  Bors. 

"'I  dreamed,'  the  abbot  said,  'that  I  saw 
Lancelot  in  the  midst  of  a  great  company  of 
angels.  More  angels  there  were  than  I  ever 
saw  of  men  in  an  army.  Some  of  them  lifted 
Lancelot  up  and  they  all  rose  to  Heaven. .  I 
could  see  Lancelot's  face  as  they  went,  and  it 
was  full  of  peace  and  gladness.  They  came 
near  the  gates  of  Heaven  and  the  gates  were 
opened  for  them  and  they  all  passed  in.  And 
as  they  passed  I  could  see  the  great  light  that 
shone  out  and  I  could  hear  voices  singing,  and 
the  gates  were  closed  and  then  I  awoke.' 

'  Then  they  all  went  to  Lancelot's  bed.  He 
did  not  awake  when  they  came  to  him,  as  the 
abbot  had  done.  He  lay  still  and  his  face 
was  full  of  peace  and  gladness  and  he  was 
dead. 

"  They  took  him  the  next  day,  all  his  friends 
and  the  abbot  with  them,  and  they  journeyed 
slowly  till  they  came  to  Joyous  Gard.  There 
they  buried  him  and  then  they  journeyed 
slowly  back  again  to  Glastonbury.  They  did 
not  talk  much  as  they  went,  but  now  and  then 
they  spoke  a  little,  sadly,  as  people  will  at  such 
times,  of  the  older  and  happier  days.  To  Bors 
and  to  some  of  the  others  it  seemed  only  a  lit- 
tle while  since  a  hundred  and  fifty  knights  sat 


276     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

at  the  Round  Table  in  the  hall  at  Camelot. 
Here  were  some  of  the  knights  of  the  Round 
Table  still,  but  the  glory  of  it  had  passed  away 
with  the  King  and  Galahad  and  Gawain  and 
Lancelot." 


"REXQUE   FUTURUS" 

WE  were  at  sea  on  our  way  home.  We  had 
left  Southampton,  where  Arthur  embarked 
when  he  went  to  fight  the  Emperor  of  Rome, 
and  all  day  we  had  made  our  swift  way  west 
through  the  British  Channel.  When  we  came 
up  on  deck  after  dinner  we  had  just  passed  the 
Scilly  Islands.  Dark  and  rough  and  hard  they 
stood  up  out  of  the  sea  behind  us,  and  a  pale 
mist  was  just  beginning  to  wrap  them  around 
and  hide  them  a  little  from  sight.  Before  us 
all  the  air  was  clear.  The  sun  was  just  setting 
and  was  filling  the  sky  with  a  dozen  lovely  hues 
of  rose  and  violet  and  turning  the  water  into 
tossing  and  tumbling  gold. 

"  See,"  I  said,  "  there  are  the  Scilly  Islands. 
They  are  all  that  is  left  of  that  lost  land  of 
Lyonnesse,  Tristram's  country,  that  used  to 
reach  from  here  back  to  the  Land's  End.  The 
rest  of  it  is  sunk  deep  down  under  the  water. 
277 


278     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

This  is  all  of  Lyonnesse  that  we  can  ever 
see." 

Helen  did  not  seem  to  care  very  greatly  even 
for  this.  She  was  thinking  of  the  last  of  our 
stories.  "  Was  King  Arthur  really  buried," 
she  said,  "there  in  the  Abbey  of  Glastonbury?" 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  answer  that,"  I  said.  "  It 
seems  to  me  that  I  have  read  enough  books 
about  King  Arthur  to  fill  this  ship,  yet  I  never 
could  see  that  the  writers  of  them  had  settled 
among  themselves  whether  he  was  buried  there 
or  not.  If  we  care  to  believe  that  he  was,  I 
think  we  may  as  well  believe  it." 

"  But  do  you  believe  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  believe  it." 

"  Then  he  never  came  back,  the  way  he  said 
he  would,  and  the  way  the  people  believed  he 
would  ?" 

"  No,  he  never  came  back." 

"  And  he  never  will  come  back,  the  way  the 
stories  said?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  think  he  will." 

For  a  few  minutes  Helen  watched  the  water 
that  was  whirling  by  the  side  of  the  ship  and  I 
looked  at  the  colors  of  the  sea  and  the  sky,  that 
were  growing  brighter  still.  Then  she  said : 
"  But  if  King  Arthur  really  died  and  really 
was  buried  at  Glastonbury  and  the  three 
Queens  didn't  cure  his  wound  at  all,  how  can 
he  come  back?" 


" Rexque  Futurus"  279 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  can  make  you  see 
it  quite  as  I  do,"  I  said,  "  but  I  will  try.  You 
know  what  it  was  that  King  Arthur  tried  to 
do.  I  have  told  you  all  these  stories  very 
badly,  if  you  do  not.  He  tried  to  save  his  peo- 
ple from  the  harms  and  the  wrongs  that  they 
suffered.  He  tried  to  make  all  of  them,  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  lords  and  the  common 
people,  good  and  brave  and  strong,  true  and 
gentle  and  noble.  And  he  did  make  them  bet- 
ter and  happier  than  they  were  before.  But 
the  time  had  not  come  for  all  that  he  wished. 
After  he  passed  away  things  got  to  be  as  bad 
almost,  as  they  had  been  before.  Some  people, 
here  in  our  own  time,  think  that  the  world  is 
not  growing  any  better.  That  is  because  they 
look  back  only  a  few  years,  perhaps  a  hundred, 
and  they  do  not  see  any  change.  There  has 
been  a  change,  though  they  do  riot  see  it.  But 
they  would  see  it,  if  they  would  look  back  to 
those  fearful  old  days  before  Arthur  came,  yes, 
or  half  way  back,  for  there  were  days  then  that 
were  not  much  better.  They  would  see  then 
how  selfish  and  how  cruel  men  were  and  what 
wicked  and  heartless  things  they  would  do  for 
a  little  power  or  a  little  gain. 

"  This  was  what  Arthur  tried  to  change,  and 
he  did  change  it  partly,  for  a  little  while.  But 
it  was  too  soon  to  change  it  altogether.  When 
he  was  gone  everything  soon  came  to  be 


280     The  Knights  of  the  Round   Table 

nearly  as  it  was  before.  Yet  it  was  never  quite 
the  same  again,  perhaps.  Other  good  men 
came,  not  with  the  strength  of  Arthur,  yet 
with  a  strength  of  their  own.  And  they  passed 
away  too  and  left  England  and  the  world  a  lit- 
tle better  than  they  had  found  them.  Slowly 
and  slowly,  yet  surely  and  surely,  men  have 
thought  more,  learned  more,  worked  more,  and 
so,  slowly  and  slowly,  yet  surely  and  surely, 
they  have  grown  wiser  and  juster  and  stronger, 
and  so,  too,  they  have  grown  freer  and  better 
and  happier. 

"The  men  of  England  and  of  our  own  coun- 
try and  of  all  the  world  are  not  yet  what  Ar- 
thur would  have  had  them.  They  are  still  far 
from  it,  perhaps,  yet  they  are  nearer  to  it,  and 
they  are  always  getting  nearer  still.  The  way 
is  long  and  it  seems  hopeless,  sometimes,  but  it 
is  not  hopeless.  And  in  some  great,  good  time, 
far  off,  when  this  England  and  our  own  country 
and  all  the  world  come  to  be  as  just  and  noble 
and  happy  as  Arthur  tried  to  make  his  people 
— then  cannot  men  say :  '  King  Arthur  is  not 
dead  any  more ;  he  has  come  back  and  is 
among  us  again,  for  it  is  his  will  that  guides 
us  and  it  is  his  law  that  rules  us  now  ? '  Do 
you  see  now  how  Arthur  did  not  die,  but  only 
passed  away,  to  come  again  ?  And  do  you  see 
how  he  may  come  again,  even  though  they 
buried  him  there  at  Glastonbury  ?  " 


' ' Rexq ue  Fu turns"  281 

"  I  don't  know,"  Helen  said,  after  she  had 
thought  for  a  minute.  "  I  don't  think  I  quite 
understand  it,  and  any  way,  I  would  rather  you 
would  tell  stories  than  talk  like  that." 

But  I  had  no  more  stories  to  tell  just  then, 
and  so  we  only  stood  and  watched  the  water 
and  the  sky,  while  the  ship  carried  us  along, 
farther  and  farther  away  from  the  dim,  dark 
rocks,  with  the  fog  around  them,  and  on  toward 
the  gold  and  the  purple  in  the  west. 


Charles  Scribner's  Sons' 

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A  KNIGHT  OF  THE  WHITE  CROSS.  A  TALE  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF  RHODES. 
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THE  TIGER  OF  MYSORE.  A  STORY  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  TIPPOO  SAID.  With 
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IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  ROCKIES.    A  STORY  OF  ADVENTURE  IN  COLORADO. 

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WULF  THE  SAXON.    A  STORY  OF  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST. 

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IN  GREEK  WATERS.  A  STORY  OF  THE  GRECIAN  WAR  OF  INDEPENDENCK 
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KIRK  MUNROE'S  STIRRING  TALES 
THE    WHITE    CONQUEROR    SERIES 

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THE  WHITE  CONQUERORS  THROUGH  SWAMP  AND  GLADE 

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The  story  is  of  the  Texas  revolution  in  1835,  when  American  Texans  under  Sam 
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PREVIOUS  VOLUMES 

THROUGH  SWAMP  AND  GLADE.  A  TALE  OF  THE  SEMINOLE  WAR.  With  8 
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In  this  new  story  Mr.  Munroe  opens  to  view  an  exceedingly  interesting  period  of 
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AT  WAR  WITH  PONTIAC ;  OR,  THE  TOTEM  OF  THE  BEAR.  A  TALE  OF  RED- 
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Donald  Hester,  goes  in  search  of  his  sister  Edith,  who  has  been  captured  by  the 
Indians.  Strange  and  terrible  are  his  experiences;  for  he  is  wounded,  taken 
prisoner,  condemned  to  be  burned,  and  contrives  to  escape.  In  the  end  there  is 

Ceace  between  Pontiac  and  the  English,  and  all  things  terminate  happily  for  the 
ero.    One  dares  not  skip  a  page  of  this  enthralling  story. 

THE  WHITE  CONQUERORS.  A  TALE  OF  TOLTEC  AND  AZTEC.  With  8  full- 
page  illustrations  by  W.  S.  STACEY.  I2mo,  $1.25. 

This  story  deals  with  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortes  and  his  Spaniards,  the 
"  White  Conquerors,"  who,  after  many  deeds  of  valor,  pushed  their  way  into  the 
great  Aztec  kingdom  and  established  their  power  in  the  wondrous  city  where 
Montezuma  reigned  in  barbaric  splendor. 


SCRIBNE^S  'BOOKS  FOR  THE  YOUNG 


BOOKS    BY    WILLIAM    HENRY    FROST 

JUST  PUBLISHED 

THE  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  ROUND  TABLE.  Illustrated  and  cover  designed  by 
S.  R.  BURLEIGH.  iztno,  $1.50. 

Mr.  Frost's  volumes  of  folk-lore  stories  have  achieved  a  deserved  popularity,  and 
this  last  one,  dealing  with  the  ever-fascinating  theme  of  the  Round  Table  and  its 
knights,  is  equal  to  either  of  his  earlier  books. 

MR.  FROST'S  FORMER  BOOKS 

THE  COURT  OF  KINO  ARTHUR.  STORIES  FROM  THE  LAND  OF  THB  ROUND 
TABLE.  Illustrated  by  S.  R.  BURLEIGH.  i2mo,  $1.50. 

Mr.  Frost  has  had  the  happy  idea  of  making  a  journey  to  the  different  places  con- 
nected with  the  Arthurian  romances  by  history  or  legend,  and  of  relating  the  ever 
new  Round  Table  Tales  on  their  sites,  to  the  same  little  girl,  now  somewhat  older, 
to  whom  he  told  his  charming  Wagner  stories. 

THE  WAGNER  STORY  BOOK.  FIRELIGHT  TALES  OF  THE  GREAT  Music 
DRAMAS.  Illustrated  by  SIDNEY  R.  BURLEIGH.  izmo,  $1.50. 

"  A  successful  attempt  to  make  the  romantic  themes  of  the  music  drama  intelligi- 
ble to  young  readers.  The  author  has  full  command  of  his  subject,  and  the  style 
is  easy,  graceful,  and  simple." — Boston  Beacon. 


ROBERT  GRANT'S  TWO  BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 

JACK  HALL;  OR,  THE  SCHOOL  DAYS  OF  AN  AMERICAN  BOY.    Illustrated  by  F. 
G.  ATTWOOD.    izmo,  $1.25. 

"  A  better  book  for  boys  has  never  been  written.    It  is  pure,  clean,  and  healthy, 
and  has  throughout  a  vigorous  action  that  holds  the  reader  breathlessly." 

— Boston  Herald. 

JACK  IN  THE  BUSH ;  OR,  A  SUMMER  ON  A  SALMON  RIVER.    Illustrated  by  F.  T. 
MERRILL,    izmo,  11.25. 

"  A  clever  book  for  boys.     It  is  the  story  of  the  camp  life  of  a  lot  of  boys,  and  is 
destined  to  please  every  boy  reader.    It  is  attractively  illustrated." 

—Detroit  Free  Press. 

THE  RANTER  GIRLS 

By  MARY  L.  B.  BRANCH.    Illustrated  by  HELEN  M.  ARMSTRONG.    Square  izmo, 

|i.5°- 

The  adventures  of  Jane  and  Prue,  two  small  sisters,  among  different  peoples  of 

the  imaginative    world — dryads,  snow-children,   Kobolds,  etc. — aided   by   their 

invisible  rings,  their  magic  ooat,  and  their  wonderful  birds,  are  described  by  the 

author  with  great  naturalness  and  a  true  gift  for  story-telling.     The  numerous 

illustrations  are  very  attractive,  and  in  thorough  sympathy  with  the  text. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


JAN  :     :7 

UGLACOLUB  ,AM  ? 
RECEIVE  ^ 

5  2007 

A     000032516     7 


